by Lisa Meissner
In 1918 the Spanish influenza was one of the deadliest pandemics this country has ever faced. Yet, it wasn’t without hope. Every other method seemed to avail little, but a simple treatment using water was found to be very successful in treating the deadly flu. It was called the Fomentation Treatment. Don’t miss part 1 of this series: The Deadliest Pandemic Part 1. Here’s the history & how to do the treatment:
His name: Paul Stuyvesant
The year: 1918
The location: Collegedale, Tennessee
The assignment: Impossible… actually, let me tell you the story (as told by his granddaughter):
“My grandfather, Paul Stuyvesant, had graduated from nursing school at the Hinsdale Sanitarium in Hinsdale, IL, near Chicago, the previous year. He moved down to Collegedale, Tennessee to help with building a new school (Southern Junior College) and to help as a school nurse for the male students. The school had moved to a new location and they were having to build all of the buildings on a very limited budget.”
“There were no dormitories built yet, so the young male students were living in tents that had very little heat. This particular fall there were two exceptionally bitter cold storms that came through dumping 18 inches of snow onto the ground, which for that area is very unusual.”
Then it happened…
“The college students started coming down with the flu. As the nurse for the young men, he set to work providing hot water treatments, known as fomentations. He was given a tent and an assistant and the two of them worked tirelessly to care for these sick men. Not one of those students died under his care, even though their living situations were far from ideal. This is especially remarkable considering the very high mortality rate of this pandemic.”
“Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama, was also was hit hard with the epidemic. My grandfather and his assistant travelled there and provided treatments to those that were sick. Once again, God blessed the treatments and their efforts. Not one of their patients died. They then returned to Collegedale where the flu had returned. Again they treated the sick with success.”
“During this time, both my grandfather and his assistant became sick with the flu. My grandfather recovered, but his assistant died. For the rest of his long life, my grandfather, regretted that he had not been able to help his assistant to recover.” Written by Cheryl Hosford
So Now What?
The problem then was that too few people knew how to administer the hydrotherapy treatments. Only a few could be saved because there were so few workers. But you can learn the simple treatments now, and be in a position to help those around you, even today. In my experience, the common flu responds well to this treatment.
So it’s time to learn…