Elizabeth Kenny was an Australian nurse and health administrator who went against the conventional medical thought and wisdom and advocated the treatment of muscles affected by poliomyelitis by wet hot compresses and exercises instead of immobilizing them with splints. After much study she concluded that the stiff muscles had to be loosened if the effect of the disease is to be reduced. The procedures followed by her in revitalizing the muscles are the basis of physical therapy which later came to be known as modern physiotherapy. Though her techniques were at odds with the general medical concept of treating polio, she carried on with her methods and was able to treat more than 3000 patients successfully in Australia alone. Her methods were used to treat hundreds of other patients throughout the world. Despite no formal medical education or training in nursing, her methods impressed many doctors throughout the world. She was the first woman in a ten year period to have displaced Eleanor Roosevelt from the number one position in the ‘Gallup Polls’. A film named ‘Sister Kenny’ was brought out in 1946 which tells her life story, her struggles and her ultimate successes.