Martha Lillard, last known US polio survivor using iron lung, dies aged 78 | Oklahoma
The last U.S. person living with polio and known to be dependent on an iron lung has died at age 78.
Martha Lillard, who contracted polio when she was five and spent most of her life dependent on an iron lung machine to help her breathe, died June 26 in Oklahoma. online obituary.
Lillard slept inside the metal cylindrical device that surrounded his body as compressed air entered and exited his lungs, changing the air pressure within him. Despite this, he attended primary school for two hours a day before completing the remainder of his education by tutoring.
“They told him he shouldn’t be 20,” Lillard’s younger sister, Cindy McVey, said. Associated Press on Friday. “He had the enthusiasm and drive to keep living and making the best of his life.”
McVey said he believes the effects of his long-standing case of Covid-19 contributed to his sister’s death. According to McVey, causes of death on Lillard’s death certificate include chronic lung failure and post-polio syndrome.
Lillard’s family made it possible for him to travel by traveling to Missouri in a custom-built motorhome, with his father contacting hotels to make sure their doors were wide enough to accommodate his daughter’s iron lung. Lillard was also able to drive for a while.
McVey said his sister went through all of this after being told she “shouldn’t be over 20.”
“He had the enthusiasm and drive to keep living and make the best of his life,” McVey told the AP.
In an interview with NBC News Lillard described the first moment he was put on the iron lung machine in 2013 as “a relief.”
“It actually feels great if you’re not breathing well,” he said. “It makes a big difference if you’re not breathing.”
Lillard’s death comes two years after the death of Paul Alexander, a Texan who attracted international attention and spent most of his life in an iron lung after contracting polio at the age of six.
Paralyzed from the neck down by illness, Alexander became an inspirational figure; He earned a law degree, wrote memoirs, and painted paintings using a brush he held in his mouth.
Alexander was also recognized by Guinness World Records as the organization’s “The longest iron lung patient”.
Before vaccines were widely available, polio was among the most feared diseases in the United States, with annual epidemics paralyzing thousands of people, mostly children.
Iron lungs helped save thousands of lives during these epidemics, even though they were designed for short-term use only.
As vaccination campaigns expanded in the late 1950s, the machines largely disappeared and were replaced by other breathing devices placed directly into the throat.
Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says vaccination is widespread reduced The number of annual polio cases in the United States fell to less than 100 in the 1960s and to less than 10 in the 1970s. In 1979, polio was declared eradicated in the United States, meaning that it was no longer routinely spread.
