"I was very, very sick. I had a terrible fever. I started the fever on the Thursday and by the Sunday, I kept falling, so my parents took me to the doctor. He knew what it was straight away. He sent me to Echuca, to the hospital, and I was there for nine months," Mrs Thompson said.

"Then I went home and I was OK, but I developed a bad back and I was then sent to Melbourne and they put me in a plaster cast. I was there for six months, then went home and I improved after that.

"In the district where I grew up - Rochester - I was the only one who got it.

"I had been on holidays at my grandmother's with a cousin. We did everything together. She didn't get it.

"We had been to a celebration of the end of the war and I think there three of us who had been at that celebration in Lockington got polio."

The polio affected Mrs Thompson's right side and her lower left leg.

"I've been lucky. I was mobile for a lot of years, whereas a lot of them weren't. I continued on with life, until about 20 years ago, it started to come back at me," she said.

Mrs Thompson is now dealing with what is called the late effects of polio, which in some people can include new or increasing muscle weakness, reduced endurance and fatigue, difficulty with breathing and sleep, chronic pain and speech and swallowing problems. Many people experiencing these symptoms struggle for answers, often being dismissed as "just getting old".

"I'm just getting weaker in my knees. I can't walk any distance at all, so I use chairs and scooters. It's getting difficult to get around," Mrs Thompson said.

Now 84, Mrs Thompson married husband Clarrie in 1956. They have three children, nine grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. The couple now lives in Wagga, having spent 33 years in Hay.

Gillian Thomas, Polio Australia's president and a polio survivor herself, said that for many ageing polio survivors, the re-emergence of symptoms, known as the late effects of polio, can be quite debilitating.

"Polio Australia's community information sessions provide historical context, as well as facilitating a discussion around how people can best manage their current condition," she said.

Polio Australia will hold a free information session on the late effects of polio on Thursday, October 24, at the Glenfield Community Centre, in Tanda Place, from 2.30pm.