I guess that it’s easy to remember the really tragic stories because here’s another one that is sad and interesting at the same time.  

When I was talking to EA, and asking about Margaret WATKINS and the Watkins family, the first story he had to tell was about Christmas.  To be more specific, about how the family never celebrated Christmas.

The Watkins family lived in Englehart, Ontario.  They emigrated to Canada in 1905 (from 1911 census) and were an Anglican family.  The 1911 census lists 5 members of the family; parents William (born June 1871 in Manchester), and Harriet (born May 1877 in Norfolk county) and children Willie (born April 1907) and twins Margaret and Gladys (born November 1910).  Margaret WATKINS would go on to marry Eddy Earl ARBUCKLE.

Now, back to Christmas.  EA told me that the family had a tragic story.  His mother had two additional  sisters, Ethel (born September 6, 1911) and Lily (born October 14, 1915).  When they were 12 and 16, they died of diphtheria.  The family had been quarantined and as much as all the neighbours wanted to help the family, there was nothing that anyone could do but wait in case they transmitted the infection to their own children.   Lily was severely affected by the toxin and died on January 4th, 1928 and Ethel’s kidneys shut down causing her to die on January 12th, 1928.  The sisters are buried in the Englehart cemetery.  I don’t think I would celebrate Christmas either if I had nursed 2 kids through the holidays, only to see them die shortly after.

So, what’s diphtheria?  It used to be known as the “strangling angel of children” and was one of the most common causes of death among children before there were vaccines. Diptheria is a bacterial infection and becomes really bad because the bacteria releases a toxin that kills the tissue around it and also travels through the blood to kill the organs.   Approximately 10-20% of people who developed the disease died; it could kill within 2-4 days – even now if you don’t treat with antibiotics fast enough there’s nothing that can be done.   Vaccinations became available around 1930, and now outbreaks in Canada are very rare.  But in places where people are not vaccinated, diphtheria is still a major killer of children.  Here’s a great medical summary.

I’m personally very thankful that we have a provincial vaccination program for important diseases that used to cause death.  I know some people think that they’re protected by the fact that everyone else has been vaccinated, but I don’t think that’s supported by science.  As far as I’m concerned, any possible risks of taking a vaccine are far outweighed by the protection they provide.  We can see that vaccinations work because we no longer have to worry about diseases like diphtheria and I think the Lily and Ethel’s parents (William and Harriet Watkins) would be very happy to know that.