A Rotary Club of Petersfield member from Whitehill has been at the sharp end of trying to eradicate polio among children in India.
Volunteer Lawrence 'Tris' Tristam went to Delhi last month as part a worldwide Rotary Club campaign to immunise millions of children from the crippling disease.
Lawrence joined a host of other volunteers from across Great Britain and Ireland in De
lhi for the National Immunisation Day, who combined with health professionals there to deliver the vaccine.
He said: "It's only when you see for yourself the terrible suffering caused by this disease that you can fully understand the need for action.
"This vaccine costs less than a penny and saves thousands of young lives.
"Nobody should face a lifetime of being painfully and severely crippled."
He added: "It's heartbreaking seeing tiny children affected by the polio virus, especially when it could have been avoided.
"Instead of running and playing as children should, they are struggling to stand.
"At home, we take it for granted that this disease is gone but here, it is very much a reality."
Seven thousand nine hundred vaccination stations were set up in Delhi alone and they needed 22,500 volunteers to man them.
Once immunised, the children's little fingers were dyed purple to keep track of who had already been given the medication.
Lawrence joined other volunteers to "mop-up" the next day, by knocking on doors and immunising children who missed out on a visit to the stations.
