“I was born in Pittsburgh
in 1945, and the doctors didn’t know why I was dying. My mother asked about the ‘Rh baby’ stuff she’d read in Reader’s Digest. She knew she was Rh-negative, but for some reason the doctors didn’t. When my parents heard that news, they got a doctor involved who happened to be doing research on Rh factor, and she saved me. My mother always told everyone the story how Reader’s Digest saved my life. I am supposedly the oldest Rh baby in the world.”
—Peggy Honts, Rockville, Maryland
“I WAS PREGNANT with my first child and having terrible headaches and nausea. My OB/GYN couldn’t see me until the following week, and I couldn’t Google my symptoms because it was before the Internet. I called my dad about my symptoms, and he said, ‘I just read an article in Digest, Reader’s and it sure sounds like you have toxemia or preeclampsia.’
My dad demanded I go to the ER. I did and was promptly admitted with— drum roll—preeclampsia. I almost died, but instead I gave birth to a boy two months premature. I had one more child, a daughter, who was also born premature, due to toxemia. If hadn’t RD printed that story, my dad wouldn’t have read it, I would have waited a week to seek medical attention, and I would likely not be here to e-mail you.”
—Leslie Bowman, Missoula, Montana