Polio survivor and motivational speaker Gary Newton will be a special guest at a combined Rotary Clubs of Horsham night on Friday.

Mr Newton, originally from Melbourne, contracted polio in 1954, just after his first birthday.

He has since spent most of his life working in commercial radio and has helped educate health professionals and polio survivors on the management of the effects of polio.

His talks often draw on funny and emotional, personal experiences, including what it’s like to live with polio, his days at a school for ‘crippled’ children and how he eventually realised his career dreams.

Mr Newton was master of ceremonies at an International Post-Polio Conference in Sydney in 2016, spoke at a national Australian Orthotics and Prosthetics Association conference in 2017 and regularly gives talks to Rotary clubs and conferences, as well as other community groups.

He has worked for almost two years and helped raise more than $60,000 for Gary’s Polio Project to India, a project supporting the Global Polio Eradication Initiative and polio survivors in Australia and India.

In January 2018 he spent 10 days working as a volunteer on Rotary’s End Polio Now campaign, vaccinating children in Delhi and supporting survivors of the disease in Vishakhapatnam, India.

His talk at the combined Rotary Clubs of Horsham night coincides with World Polio Month.

The night will be at Glen Logan Restaurant in Horsham from 6.30pm, with entry costing $30 per person.

People can call Michael Spiers on 0409 493 755 to RSVP or for more information.

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