The organization of fundraising gofundme reported the death of Paul Alexanderthe man who lived in a “iron lung” for more than 70 years after surviving the poliomyelitis and whose story became known throughout the world. Alexander was 78 years old and since he was 6 he required the metal chamber to be able to breathe.
In the summer of 1952 he contracted the infectious disease caused by a virus, which left him paralyzed from the neck down. In this way – and as the vaccine currently administered to children did not yet exist – the only possible treatment forced patients to use these “metal lungs” in which they had to remain lying down for the rest of their lives.
The news of the death was reported by Christopher Ulmerthe creator of GoFundMe who raised funds to help finance Alexander’s health care needs.
Polio is a disabling disease – which remains potentially fatal if not prevented – and which is caused by poliovirus. The virus is transmitted from person to person and can infect a person’s spinal cord causing paralysis which then forces patients to remain in the metal chamber. Thanks to the application of the vaccine, the disease is almost completely eradicated in modern society.
image.png
Despite his illness, Alexander became an example of struggle for society. Not only did he graduate high school as the first person to have not even attended a class in person, but At the age of 21 he became a trial lawyer and represented clients in court wearing a three-piece suit and a modified wheelchair that kept his body upright.
image.png
As an activist, he also organized a sit-in for the rights of people with disabilities and in 2020 he published his memoirs, called “Three Minutes for a Dog: My Life in an Iron Lung,” which he wrote with a pen tied to a stick in his mouth. Additionally, Alexander was recognized by the Guinness World Records as the person who spent the longest time living in an iron lung.
The huge fan was invented in the 1920s in the United States, in the middle of the stronger sprout of polio; In 1959, more than 1,200 Americans depended on this iron lung to stay alive.
It is a airtight capsule that takes oxygen and allows the lungs to expand and, thus, the patient to breathe. Due to the discomfort it represents, and as cases decreased drastically, this machine became less and less common, until, by 2014, there were only 10 people left using it. Currently, most patients with respiratory muscle paralysis use mechanical ventilators that push air into the airways with positive pressure.
Source: Ambito
