When Dr Curtis Welch arrived to check on a very sick three-year-old patient at his small hospital on January 20, 1925, his worst fears were confirmed. A thick, slimy membrane had developed on the toddler, Billy Barnett’s tonsils, along with reddish lesions in his mouth. The increase in tonsillitis cases in Nome, Alaska, including fatal cases, had already raised Welch’s concerns. Barnett’s new symptoms indicated diphtheria, a deadly bacteria that suffocated its victims by clogging their windpipes with mucus. Luckily, there was a cure. In the 1890s, Emil von Behring had developed an antitoxin using serum from immune animals. Unfortunately, Welch only had a limited supply of expired antitoxin and Nome would be cut off from the rest of the world until the Alaskan summer thawed the sea ice. Welch knew he could not wait that long and urgently contacted the United States Public Health Service for help. The events that followed would catapult Nome and Alaska into the headlines of newspapers worldwide. Despite advances in technology allowing real-time updates on the situation, the town’s salvation was not modern. Welch and Sister Emily Morgan worked tirelessly to treat cases while waiting for help. People near and far scrambled to provide assistance, with the serum eventually being located. The race was on to transport the serum to Nome, with options including dog sleds and airplanes. Ultimately, Governor Scott C Bone decided that the serum would first be transported by dog sled. On January 26, the serum was loaded onto a train in Anchorage and sent to Nenana, where Wild Bill Shannon and his team of dogs began the treacherous journey to deliver the serum to Nome. Despite the extreme cold and challenging conditions, Shannon and his dogs set off on their mission to save the town from the diphtheria epidemic.
