since scarlet fever is contagious, she might've gotten it from somebody else when she was in the hospital for surgery. or the illness was from one of the two sides of the family. either from her father's or mother's side. if her mother also had scarlet fever when she was younger, and if mary took after her mother, i can see the reasons behind it. and laura took after her father, which had no history of illness, so she didn't have to worry. when mrs. ingalls came down with infection and fever after a scratch, she just stood there and denied that she was sick. she just rationalized her fever from all the baking she did. god, she could've told someone alot earlier, and gotten help. she also justified mary's eyesight being taken away, god she has to have a rational answer for everything! also how could she be so oblivious to mary's loss of her baby and how it affected her. her mother's attitude sucks!
Mary Ingalls went blind at age 15 from scarlet fever.
Mary Ingalls Wilder lost her sight due to scarlet fever. The illness caused a high fever, which ultimately led to her blindness.
Laura Ingalls didn't get scarlet fever. Her sisters and ma did, but she never got it.
Mary blindness was gradual in coming after a bout of scarlet fever.
It has not been definitively proven that Mary Ingalls Wilder faked her blindness. In her autobiography, Laura Ingalls Wilder describes Mary's bout of scarlet fever that eventually led to her blindness. Some scholars have speculated that it may have been a misdiagnosis or a different illness altogether.
Laura Ingalls was 14 years old when her sister Mary Ingalls became blind at the age of 14 due to illness.
The doctors of the time said that Mary never fully recovered from a case of the measles she had had, and had run a very high fever with the disease. For some reason, this atrophied her optic nerves, leading to complete blindness over a period of weeks.
Mary Ingalls had a parotid gland transplant at the age of 14 in an attempt to restore her sight, which was lost due to scarlet fever. The parotid gland plays a role in producing saliva, but the transplant was a medical intervention specific to her case.
We learn about Mary's loss in On The Shores of Silver Lake but she had lost her eyesight a little before that, when Caroline, Carrie, Grace and Mary all caught the measles or as they called it, scarlet fever.
at age 14
There is no historical record or evidence of Mary Ingalls, the sister of Laura Ingalls Wilder, ever receiving a spanking as a child. Their childhood was documented in the "Little House on the Prairie" book series, and there is no mention of such an event occurring.
She had three sisters. Mary the oldest, died from pneumonia and complications from a stroke. Diabetes ran in the Ingalls family and Laura, Carrie, and Grace all eventually died from complications of the disease.