'Polio Paul' who has been inside 7ft iron lung for 70 years 'shouldn't be alive"

Paul Alexander is thought to one of two people still living inside an iron lung. He and fellow American Martha Lillard need help from the machine to breathe after contracting polio seven decades ago

A man and woman in their 70s are the last people on earth being kept alive by an iron lung

"He shouldn't be alive," remarked doctors as six-year-old Paul Alexander lay flat inside his iron lung.

But against all odds, 70 years later, he's still going.

Paul was left paralysed after being struck down by polio, a serious viral infection that can affect the spinal cord, in 1952. He could only move his head, neck and mouth and almost died before doctors put him in an iron lung.
The machine has kept him alive for seven decades.

He's thought to be one of two people still living inside one of the 7ft machines. The other, Martha Lillard, has spent 69 years insider her "dear friend" after she also contracted polio as a child.
Polio has been pretty much eradicated in the West, but the 1950s saw devastating outbreaks.



Paul and Martha were among the few to survive.



'Polio Paul'



Paul contracted polio as a child and has been inside the iron lung for the past 70 years


Paul Alexander, crudley dubbed ‘Polio Paul’, has lived inside an iron lung ventilator for more than 70 years.



The machine is an airtight capsule that sucks oxygen through negative pressure, allowing lungs to expand so the patient can breathe.
At six-years-old, Paul contracted Polio in suburban Dallas, Texas. He was paralysed and rushed to hospital.

“I lost everything: the ability to move, my legs would not hold me up and then I couldn’t breathe”, he said.

But Paul didn’t let his faulty lungs get in the way of his dream of becoming a lawyer.

Paul hasn't let his disabilities get the better of him
In class, because he couldn't take notes, he learned to memorise things and in 1967 he graduated second in his class, becoming the first person to do so from a Dallas high school without ever physically attending.
He graduated from the University of Texas with a degree in 1978 then as a Doctor of Law in 1984

He since spent decades working in law, forging a successful career.
Eventually, he was able to leave the iron lung for minutes at a time after learning how to “frog breathe”. The technique involves gulping air and swallowing it down like a ribbeting reptile.

Paul's 'frog breathing' technique allows him to leave the metal vessel for minutes at a time

He added: “I do the same thing everybody else does. I wake up, wash my face, brush my teeth, shave, have some breakfast - I just need a little bit more help doing it.”
In 2020, Paul published his biography ‘Three Minutes for a Dog: My Life in an Iron Lung’.

Five years in the making, every word of the book was scribed with a pen attached to a stick held in his mouth.
Now 76, he's been recognised by Guinness World Records as having spent the longest amount of time living in an iron lung

Martha’s miracle

Marth first entered the lung at five years old after contracting the virus at a theme park

Martha Lillard celebrated turning five with a dream day out at an Oklahoma amusement park.
But a week later, her living nightmare began.

Seven days after the visit, she woke up with pain in her neck and was taken to the hospital where she was diagnosed with polio.
Her breathing muscles were rendered obsolete by the disease and she was placed immediately in an iron lung.

An astonishing 69 years later, the 7ft ventilator is still keeping Martha alive.
She has, though, had many near-death encounters.

Martha has had her fair share of scares after getting trapped in her iron lung

Her machine was breaking down in the 1990s and hospitals and museums weren't willing to part with their antiqued devices.
Luckily, she found a man in Utah who was willing to part with one and she remains in it to this day.

Another time, Martha became trapped in the machine after an ice storm knocked the power out, breaking the emergency generator.
"It's like being buried alive almost, you know — it's so scary," she told Radio Diaries.

She added: "I was having trouble breathing. And I remember saying out loud to myself, 'I'm not going to die’.”

Martha continues to live life to the max, despite being confined to her seven-foot breathing apparatus

But Martha continues to live life as fully as possible - painting, watching old Hollywood movies and taking care of her beagles.

She is eternally grateful to her iron lung, saying: "It's what sustains me. It's what heals me. It's what allows me to breathe the next day.
"I look at it as a friend, as a very dear friend."
~ Daily Star