Paul Alexander - In Iron Lung for Polio Since 1952, More Than 70 Yrs - Dies At 78: NPR

[appalachiablue]

Paul Alexander, forced into an iron lung by polio in 1952, dies at 78, NPR, March 13, 2024. Ed.
(Photo: Boston, Mass., Aug. 16, 1955, when the city's polio epidemic hit a high of 480 cases).
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Polio struck Paul Alexander in 1952, when he was just 6 years old. Within days, the disease robbed him of the use of his body. But he fought through the illness, using an iron lung for more than 70 years - and inspiring people with his determination to live a full life. He painted, wrote a book and worked for years as an attorney.

"Paul took a lot of pride in being a positive role model for others," his friend Christopher Ulmer, who organized a GoFundMe page for Alexander in 2022, said in a message to NPR. "More than anything I believe he would want others to know they are capable of great things." Alexander died on Monday at age 78, according to a notice by the Grove Hill Funeral Home & Memorial Park in his hometown of Dallas, Texas.

Ulmer says he first met Alexander when he filmed an interview with him; the two stayed in touch. Ulmer launched a donation campaign for Alexander after people betrayed his trust & left him in need of better living accommodations. In response, people donated more than $140,000. It allowed him to live his last few years stress-free," Alexander's brother, Philip, said. "It will also pay for his funeral during this difficult time. It is absolutely incredible to read all the comments and know that so many people were inspired by Paul. I am just so grateful."

- The man in the iron lung, living a large life -
Alexander contracted polio during the worst years of the U.S. outbreak, a time when hospital wards held row after row of children lying in iron lungs - 7-ft-long cylinders that use negative pressure and bellows to draw air into their lungs. The disease progressed quickly in
Alexander, shutting his young body down in a matter of days. He survived thanks to a last-minute tracheotomy; from there, he set out to push beyond the limits of his condition. Holding a rod in his mouth, he was able to turn pages in books and create art. He went to high school, college and law school...
https://www.npr.org/2024/03/13/1238251518/iron-lung-polio-paul-alexander

- A Polio Survivor's Story - Paul Alexander Interview, 1 year ago.

- What Is Polio? cdc.gov
https://www.cdc.gov/polio/what-is-polio/index.htm

- Wiki, List of Polio Survivors

Joni Mitchell, singer, musician
Neil Young, musician
Itzhak Perlman, classical violinist
Alan Alda, actor
Donald Sutherland, actor
Judith Heuman, disability rights activist
Ben Bradlee, editor, the Washington Post...
More, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_polio_survivors#:~:

[Oopsie Daisy]

1. 😢

[appalachiablue]

2. Paul had great courage, and gifts. Pass gently brave friend.

[hlthe2b]

3. 20 years ago or so, I met another long term (lifetime) iron lung polio survivor...

He really was incredible. I likewise recall an Oscar-winning documentary** that I wanted to watch, but it was before short-form documentaries were made widely available.

Some amazing people whose examples are so needed today. So many of those vaccine-deniers MIGHT be influenced --when nothing else has--to rethink their positions.


I found an old article about that documentary from 1997, but still haven't found a way to see it:
https://variety.com/1997/tv/reviews/breathing-lessons-the-life-and-work-of-mark-o-brien-1117341375/

The subject of the above documentary was Mark O'Brien who died a couple of years after completion at the age of 49:
https://www.nytimes.com/1999/07/11/us/mark-o-brien-49-journalist-and-poet-in-iron-lung-is-dead.html
archived article of the obituary: https://archive.ph/lvKU0

[appalachiablue]

7. Good material & thanks for replying. I have no tolerance

for vax deniers, esp in this age and after polio.

[viva la]

4. There was a woman in my town who was in an iron lung

She had children-- had gotten polio at 30, just before widespread vaccination.

Her husband used to move her iron lung near the window so she could watch the kids go to the bus stop. She died after about ten years.

No one has to go in an iron lung anymore... because we're all vaccinated in childhood.

[appalachiablue]

6. Thanks for sharing this story. After decades of fear and sickness,

the polio vaccine was a godsend. I have little patience for current deniers. They should understand what affected people endured and not dismiss it as fake or conspiracy.

[MOMFUDSKI]

5. A classmate of mine had a terribly crooked

neck and a skinny leg. She limped. We were both born in 1947. She got polio. I was lucky. Dr. Salk was a saint.

[appalachiablue]

8. Thanks for sharing that. I knew 2 kids who had polio, older

and mildly affected. We were so lucky to have the vaccine.