Iron Lung man dies at 78
Posted: March 13th, 2024, 5:39 pm
Paul Alexander: 'Man in the iron lung' dies at the age of 78
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68555051
The polio survivor known as "the man in the iron lung" has died at the age of 78.
"Paul Alexander contracted polio in 1952 when he was six, leaving him paralysed from the neck down.
The disease left him unable to breathe independently, leading doctors to place him in the metal cylinder, where he would spend the rest of his life."
"Advances in medicine made iron lungs obsolete by the 1960s, replaced by ventilators. But Alexander kept living in the cylinder because, he said, he was used to it.
He was recognised by Guinness World Records as the person who lived the longest in an iron lung."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68555051
The polio survivor known as "the man in the iron lung" has died at the age of 78.
"Paul Alexander contracted polio in 1952 when he was six, leaving him paralysed from the neck down.
The disease left him unable to breathe independently, leading doctors to place him in the metal cylinder, where he would spend the rest of his life."
"Advances in medicine made iron lungs obsolete by the 1960s, replaced by ventilators. But Alexander kept living in the cylinder because, he said, he was used to it.
He was recognised by Guinness World Records as the person who lived the longest in an iron lung."
