iron lung

3 Stories

Man Who Spent 72 Years
in an Iron Lung Has Died

obituary

Mar 13, 2024 1:20 PM CDT

Man Who Spent 72 Years in an Iron Lung Has Died

Paul Alexander of Texas had used the device since 1952

(Newser) - A man deemed by Guinness World Records as having been the longest iron lung patient died Monday. Paul Alexander of Dallas, Texas, was 78. Alexander was placed in the iron lung at age six in 1952 after contracting polio, which left him paralyzed from the neck down. He relied on...

She Relies on an Iron Lung. That's a Scary Reality

She Relies on an Iron Lung,
Is 'Desperate' for Parts

Oct 30, 2021 4:35 PM CDT

She Relies on an Iron Lung, Is 'Desperate' for Parts

NPR talks to polio survivor Martha Lillard, 73

(Newser) - In 2017, we shared a Gizmodo reporter's experience visiting the last three polio survivors in the US who still rely on an iron lung for survival. One of them was Martha Lillard, who shared her worries about needing to conserve the canvas spiral collars she relies on to provide...

Meet the Last 3 People
Still Using an Iron Lung

Meet the Last 3 People Still Using an Iron Lung

Gizmodo writer visits them all, and finds that the logistics of survival are scary

(Newser) - When Jonas Salk's vaccine largely wiped out polio in the US back in the 1950s, it eliminated a once-common sight: rows of iron lungs in hospitals used to help victims breathe. But the need for those life-saving contraptions hasn't been entirely eliminated. Jennings Brown of Gizmodo visits three...

3 Stories