The legendary Birmingham City footballer was just 29 and at the peak of his career when he was struck down by polio 50 years ago

Memories fade with time for some, but great grandma Joan Miller will never forget the day her soccer star brother Jeff Hall died.

The legendary Birmingham City footballer was just 29 and at the peak of his career when he was struck down by polio 50 years ago.

Within 12 days of being diagnosed with the virus, the sporting hero, who had played for England 17 times, was left paralysed and unable to speak.

Joan and her parents spent the final heart-breaking hours with their beloved Jeff, who eventually succumbed to the deadly disease which has no cure.

“That whole part of my life is still fresh in my memory, as if it happened yesterday. It was devastating seeing Jeff like that,” Joan, 86, recalls.

“He was such an active and lively person, full of soul. But polio reduced him to someone who was bedridden and unable to move an inch.

“We stayed by his bedside for 12 days until he passed away.

‘‘It was so hard to watch him slowly slip away from us.”

Jeff had played for Birmingham City in a 1-1 draw with Portsmouth in late March, 1959. He was back at his home with wife Dawn when he complained of feeling unwell and was taken to hospital – where doctors diagnosed polio.

Despite being super-fit, Jeff was unable to fight off the virus and he died on April 4.

His death sparked an extraordinary response from the public.

They were shocked that a young, healthy professional footballer could fall victim to polio and began clamouring for a vaccine.

The rush for immunisation was given a further boost when Dawn went on TV to talk about her sad loss.

She also made a record that was translated into several different languages and sent all over the world.

The response was amazing.

Schoolchildren were marched class-by-class to their local clinics to take Jonas Salk’s vaccine, an impregnated sugar lump to swallow rather than a jab in the arm which had been the other less popular option.

Emergency clinics were set up across Britain as polio dominated the headlines and newsreels.

Soon, with demand exploding, extra vaccine supplies had to be flown in from the US.

The result was a generation vaccinated against a killer disease, saving potentially many thousands of lives.

Immediately after Jeff’s death, Birmingham City erected a clock in his memory at St Andrews and in April, on the 50th anniversary of his passing, a bigger timepiece was unveiled.

“Jeff would be so glad that his death wasn’t in vain and that it helped a lot of people,” Joan says.

“There are many lives that his passing away has saved.

‘‘Although I remember that terrible time, I also haven’t forgotten the good memories too.

“Growing up with Jeff was lovely. He was seven years younger than me and was cheeky and playful as a child. He was just a joy to be around.’’

The memories for Joan, a great grandmother-of-eight, began as a youngster when the family moved from Scunthorpe to Wilsden, Bradford, to run a village pub.

Young Jeff quickly developed as a footballer, playing for his village team before signing amateur forms with Bradford Park Avenue.

Joan remembers travelling by bus with their mother to watch Jeff playing in local leagues, laden with flasks of coffee, tea and oranges for the players at half-time.

Talented Jeff was spotted by Birmingham City while playing for The Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers during his National Service and signed as a professional in May 1950.

He had established himself in the first team in 1953, having made the switch from right-half to full-back, and won his first England cap in a 5-1 success against Denmark in 1955.

Unlike many of the brash footballers of today, he remained modest about his achievements.

“You could never get anything out of Jeff – it was a neighbour who told us he’d been picked to play for his country,” says former textile worker Joan.

“But when he brought his first England cap home, Dad cried when he put it in his hand.”

A picture of Jeff wearing an England cap holds pride of place in Joan’s West Yorkshire home.

And she recalled the kindness of Birmingham City on the day of her brother’s funeral at the Congregational Chapel in Wilsden.

“There were two hearses,” she recalls, “one filled with flowers.

“There were hundreds of people there and after the service everyone went to the Bankfield Hotel in Bingley for refreshments.

‘‘Jack Wiseman, the Birmingham chairman, saw my father and said to him ‘You look worried, Mr Hall.’ Father replied, ‘I am, I can’t afford all this.’ ‘Don’t worry,’ said Mr Wiseman, ‘it’s all been taken care of.’

‘‘It was a wonderful gesture, one that I will never forget.”

Over the years Joan has attend many events to honour her brother and to publicise the worldwide fight against polio.

She hopes to be at the 100th Rotary International Convention at Birmingham NEC later this month when 20,000 people will hear about the latest initiatives to tackle the virus.

Hollywood actress Mia Farrow, a childhood survivor of the polio, is due to speak at the event which run from June 20 to 24.

Joan adds: “It’s really important that we keep up the battle against polio.

“It may virtually be eradicated in the western world, but there are still many suffering.

“The work of Rotary is very important in helping this fight against polio. Jeff would have been very impressed, I’m sure.”

Allan Jagger, a Rotary International spokesman, said: “Polio blighted the lives of millions in the 20th century and those living in urban areas such as Birmingham were particularly vulnerable to this devastating, infectious disease.

“The last time Birmingham played host to Rotary’s International Convention was in 1984 for our 75th convention where there were around 350,000 cases of polio worldwide each year.

“In 1985 Rotary International created PolioPlus – a programme to immunise all the world’s children against polio.

“On the eve of our 100th Convention, Rotary is delighted to report that cases worldwide have dropped by 99 per cent.

“We remain dedicated to our commitment to banishing this disease. Rotary International sincerely hopes that by the next time we hold our convention in Birmingham polio will be gone for good.”