Dianne Odell died this morning in her Tennessee home. Dianne had been confined to an iron lung for nearly 60 years. She was diagnosed with polio before the polio vaccine was invented.

Odell lived in an iron lung because she had a severe case of polio - bulbar polio - which had left her paralyzed and unable to breathe on her own.

Odell wrote a book, “Blinky Less Light,” about the smallest star in heaven. The children’s book, which took Odell 10 years to finish, has almost sold out of the 100,000 copies printed. She took courses at the University of Tennessee before attending Freed-Hardeman University, where she studied psychology.

Odell had been visited by many celebrities throughout the years, including actor David Keith, former Dallas Cowboy Cliff Harris, and Jane Seymour, known for her role as “Doctor Quinn, Medicine Woman.”

Odell even helped encourage and pick up the spirits of the late Christopher Reeve after he was left paralyzed after a horsing accident.

In an interview last year, Odell said that she once talked to the Seymour’s late best friend, Christopher Reeve, who was famous for portraying Superman in four movies. She said that in that telephone conversation, Reeve, who had recently been paralyzed after being thrown from a horse, asked her how she kept her spirits up.

I had the opportunity to spend an afternoon with Dianne at her home about three years ago. I had just appeared in Cosmo and my friend Jacque Hillman took me over to visit and spend some time with her. She was an amazing woman just as were both of her parents, Freeman and Geneva. Her elderly parents took care of her every day of her life. I was the one that came away being impressed by the Odell family and blessed from spending a day with Dianne.

An iron lung is like a big iron coffin where you are on your back all the time. Dianne had a mirror above her head where she could see who was talking to her. I know that Jacque (who was very close to Dianne), myself and thousands others that were inspired by Dianne are very saddened with her passing.

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Dianne O’Dell’s Story

Everyone has dreams: Dreams of personal success, of power or influence, perhaps even of greatness or wealth. Anyone who believes in dreams knows that they do come true, even if only fulfilled in some small way; and in so doing they help to significantly mould and shape our lives. Dianne O’Dell is one such dreamer. Dianne was born February 13, 1947, at a time when polio was savagely claiming victims throughout the country. Dianne was snared by the throes of polio in June of 1950 and accepted the consequences of this formidable enemy without fully understanding the implications or the decisiveness of its attack. Dianne was imprisoned by an iron lung shortly thereafter, and there she remains, depending upon it to breathe for her while she cannot.

Dianne always dreamed of writing a children’s book. But she despised the idea of dictating it for someone else to write and longed to do this herself, in much the same way as she longs to hug someone.

Dianne said, “I have had two dreams in my life. The ability to write without the help of others” and “to write my own letters and perhaps books.” She continues, “My dream of writing a book without help has come true. I had started a children’s book over 12 years ago. The computer I had then gave me nothing but frustration. It must have been three years before I realized that the method of voice recognition that I was using would never work for my voice. It broke my heart to think of all the wasted money people had contributed for my benefit. Now my expectations have been more than fully realized . . . I am making good progress.”

In the early 80s Dianne acquired a voice-input computer with which she could dictate one letter at a time. “Charlie Alpha Tango” produced the word “cat”. By today’s standards this method of putting text into a computer seems rather primitive, but Dianne managed to take a giant step forward with that computer and make a good start on her first book.

It was a long, hard road, and Dianne soon became weary of the ordeal. Combined with failing health, voice recognition errors too numerous to count, and other difficulties, the book was not to be finished at that time. Then in the nineties, voice input technology made a giant leap. Now, through numerous donations by friends and family; not to mention a yard sale and bake sale or two, Dianne has acquired a 1998 model computer system with word processing software and voice input software much more suited to her needs. Dianne has now acquired enough skills using her computer to write letters to friends and family, create greeting cards and, more importantly, to finish her first children’s book, which is now at the publisher.

Congratulations, Dianne, from all of us at The STAR Center, for a job well done!

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Where can you find a copy of the children’s story, Dianne Odell ’s “Blinky, Less Light“?

The books are $25.00 each with 100% of the proceeds going to the Dianne
Odell Fund at the West TN Healthcare.

To order the books you can send a check along with a return mailing
address to

WTH Foundation
708 West Forest Ave.
Jackson, TN 38301

Re: Dianne Odell/Blinky, Less Light

We will gladly mail one to you. Thank you and if we can be of other
assistance to you please do not hesitate to contact us.

Freda Smith
West TN Healthcare Foundation
708 West Forest
Jackson, TN 38301
731-660-8770
21 hours ago
Source(s):
West TN Healthcare Foundation

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