Polio survivor pens thoughts to his only daughter

Ronald A. Tomo was 7 months old when he was diagnosed with polio – a mere two months before a vaccine became available. Tomo was fortunate to survive the diagnosis, but was left with a paralyzed right arm, partially paralyzed left arm and left diaphragm, and weak left leg. However, the self-declared type-A man persevered.

Tomo, 58, of North Bellmore, was a rock 'n' roll singer, volunteered for two years to drive an ambulance in Bellmore-Merrick, joined the Coast Guard Auxiliary and was honored as the American Radio Relay League International Humanitarian of the Year in 2010 after voluntarily risking his life to set up a communications system in Haiti after the earthquake there. Tomo is currently the vice president chief information officer at Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow, and most recently, wrote a book dedicated to his only daughter, Jacqui.

Tomo said he wanted to write a book for Jacqui for years, but actively undertook the task after a long-time friend died at 59 years old. “I knew I wanted to write something for my daughter and I wanted her to have something that she could read and refer to now and when I’m gone," he said.

Tomo finished writing and self-published “Notes to Jacqui" in three months.

Tomo describes the book as a free-flowing dialogue in which he shares concepts and ideas, rather than rules, to live by.

“What I’ve tried to do is give my daughter wisdom . . . show her the wise thing to do without telling her what to do because you can’t tell anybody what to do,” he said.

At 16 years old, Tomo said, he chose to stop caring about others' opinions and to live life with passion. “If you define yourself by what you look like, then you’re cheating yourself and you’re losing out,” he said. “That was the major thing that polio taught me because I was disfigured, which is worse than these people who think they’re too fat.”

In his book, Tomo shares true-life anecdotes on the universal themes of love, marriage, pets, education, health, paying it forward, and the keys to success and happiness. “It’s 28 tips from the old guy,” he joked. Tomo also included pictures of memorable moments, and in each chapter, he added a note to Jacqui.