The Spanish Flu is believed to
have started in Fort Riley, Kansas in March of 1918. In a short amount of time, the
virus had our nation and the world grasped in its deadly fingers. This flu pandemic
caused the highest number of known flu deaths: more than 500,000 people died in the United
States, and up to 50 million people may have died worldwide.
The 1918
Spanish Flu also took its toll here in Nebraska. There’s no record of the exact
number of deaths, but it’s estimated to be in the thousands.
Nebraskans,
who survived the Spanish Flu pandemic, share their memories, stories and experiences in
their own words…
Interview with Isabelle, April 26, 2006
 Isabelle, 103, was a junior at Lincoln
High School in 1918 when her mother got sick with the Spanish flu, the deadliest flu
pandemic of the 20th century. Isabelle’s life changed with her mother’s illness
along with the lives of millions of people across the world who were either sick
themselves or caring for others.
Isabelle took three weeks off school to care for her mother and her
family. There were no doctors or medical staff around to help. They were either treating
patients or were sick themselves. So, Isabelle provided comfort and supportive care to her
mother.
For those three weeks, Isabelle took care of her family, tried to
keep everyone healthy, by cooking for them and by cleaning their two-story house. “It
was a big job,” she said. Her two little brothers, ages 7 and 9, stayed upstairs, a
floor away from their sick mother. Isabelle said keeping her brothers entertained and away
from mom was the worst part.
Isabelle’s dad worked and brought groceries home. Amazingly
enough, no one else in the family got sick. “We came out o.k.,” Isabelle said of
her family.
Isabelle’s mother was one of the luckier ones. She survived the
Spanish flu, but, after that difficult three week period, had to use a wheel-chair for
several additional weeks. Isabelle said keeping her brothers away from their mother helped
keep them healthy.
Why didn’t Isabelle get the flu from her mother? “I was
born tough,” said Isabelle. “I was born in New York state during a
blizzard.” Isabelle is not only tough, but very determined. After that three-week
absence from high school to care for her mother, Isabelle said she worked through the
night to complete all of her missed assignments. She went on to graduate from Lincoln High
in June 1921.
If another flu virus turned into a pandemic, Isabelle had this advice
for Nebraskans. “Stay healthy.”
If
you’d like to share your family story about the 1918 Spanish Flu, please send an
email to: birdflu@dhhs.ne.gov or call
402-471-9108
View a
slideshow of quotes from people here at home and across the globe giving a snapshot of
what life was like during the 1918 Spanish Flu.  The 1918 Spanish Flu Remembered
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