Author Roald Dahl penned a heartbreaking letter in 1988, urging parents to vaccinate their kids, in which he shared the story of his heartbreak over his own daughter’s death from measles.
According to the author’s website, Olivia “Twenty” Dahl, the oldest daughter of Roald and his wife, Patricia, died in November 1962. A letter written by Dahl about her death was featured in a pamphlet from The Sandwell Health Authority in 1988.
Read the full text of the letter below, via HuffPost UK:
Measles: A Dangerous Illness
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So what on earth are you worrying about? It really is almost a crime to allow your child to go unimmunised.
The ideal time to have it done is at 13 months, but it is never too late. All school-children who have not yet had a measles immunisation should beg their parents to arrange for them to have one as soon as possible.
Incidentally, I dedicated two of my books to Olivia, the first was ‘James and the Giant Peach’. That was when she was still alive. The second was ‘The BFG’, dedicated to her memory after she had died from measles.
You will see her name at the beginning of each of these books. And I know how happy she would be if only she could know that her death had helped to save a good deal of illness and death among other children.
