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UW-Green Bay, CL 815
2420 Nicolet Drive
Green Bay, WI 54311-7001
(920) 465-2214
E-mail: matzken@uwgb.edu
Rev.
February 27, 2008
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Challenges,
childhood polio inspire alumni author
 At
age 4, Bonnie Jo Moore, Class of ’73, contracted
polio that left her with permanent paralysis in
her legs. The disease also gave her a public spotlight
as the 1957 March of Dimes Polio Poster Child and
a chance to meet her childhood hero, Duncan Renaldo,
“The Cisco Kid” of the popular 1950s television
series.
Moore chronicles her life’s
triumphs and challenges in her recently published
book, Minus One, which she hopes will inspire others
coping with tragedy and heartache.
The book describes her battle
with polio, her life as a single mother with a
daughter born with Turner Syndrome(a chromosomal
abnormality), the eventual death of her daughter
and her husband, and her personal battle with depression
and alcohol abuse.
“I wrote this book after the
death of my daughter, as a sort of therapy, to
get me back on track and to give me something to
work toward.” Her story has upbeat memories, too,
like her view from the backseat of a convertible
parading inside Lambeau Field on game day, and
finding peace later in life. For contact info,
write to alumni@uwgb.edu.
Long shot survivor has love for helping others
 On
Sept. 13, 1991, during the first week of her senior
year of high school, the life of Meghan Schiesser
’02 took an unexpected turn.
A car accident left her with
broken bones and a serious head injury. When EMS
workers arrived Schiesser had no vital signs —
she was technically dead — and when the Survival
Flight helicopter landed at the University of Michigan
Hospital, she was given a less-than-10-percent
chance of survival.
In critical condition and
a full coma for six weeks, Schiesser spent an additional
six weeks in a severe vegetative state. Doctors
said she would never walk, talk, eat, or recognize
her parents again, but she made a miraculous recovery,
graduated from high school and went on to earn
a bachelor’s degree in human development from UW-Green
Bay.
Today, the mother of two,
having turned her pain to passion, now works to
prevent brain injuries in others as a volunteer
speaker for the Think First program, a national
brain and spinal cord injury-prevention organization.
Schiesser’s passion is talking to groups at schools
and other institutions in the area about steps
they can take to avoid injuries like hers.
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