Paul Alexanderthe man with the Guinness record to the person who has spent the longest time in a iron lungjust died at 78 years. He had been depending on this device to breathe for more than 70 years, to which he was inevitably attached after contracting polio when he was only 6 years old.
This disease, caused by a virus, can occur in very different ways. It is estimated that 3 out of 4 patients experience flu-like symptoms. However, in the remaining quarter, the nervous system is affected with very serious symptoms. In some cases there is a meningitis which can be fatal, and in others the affectation of the spinal cord produces paralysis at different levels. Sometimes it is just a limb. But on other occasions it affects the entire torso, including the lungswhich cannot contract and expand normally.
That is precisely what happened to you to Paul Alexander. He couldn't move from the neck down, so he needed this device to breathe. Even so, he excelled in his studies, finishing the law career and even practiced as a lawyer. Without a doubt, this is an example of improvement. Although if polio vaccines had existed when he was little he would not have had to become an example of anything. He surely would have preferred it.
An iron lung to survive
The iron lung is a sealed chamber, 300kg, similar in appearance to a submarine. Inside there is a system of pumps that periodically increase and decrease the pressureso that the lungs contract and expand so that air and blood can circulate through them.
It was invented in the 1920s, initially for the treatment of people poisoned by carbon monoxide. However, in that same decade it had a great boom when its effectiveness was proven in the cases of patients with polio paralysis. These were mainly children, since this virus affects this population group hardest.
It continued to be used regularly until the mid-20th century. In the 1950s, the polio vaccine drastically reduced infections by the virus and in the 1960s other techniques of mechanic ventilation that did not require such a heavy device. Even so, a good part of the patients who had started using iron lung continued to use it for the rest of their lives. This is the case of Paul Alexander. Over time, thanks to the help of a physiotherapist, had learned to breathe by pushing air from the throat. Since his neck was not paralyzed, as long as he was conscious she could breathe without the iron lung, so she only needed it to sleep.
Thus, he was able to go to court and practice as a lawyer. He used a wheelchair in which he stood in an upright position and breathed as he had been taught. Then, upon returning home, she continued with her day. He even wrote a book. But when it was time to sleep he had to return to the iron lung.
Unfortunately, their small metal shelter was not enough to defeat the COVID-19who ended his life at 78 years of age.
There is only one person left in your situation
After the death of Paul Alexander, it is believed that the only patient still subject to an iron lung due to polio is another American: Martha Lillard.
Your case is slightly different. She is 75 years old and has been using this heavy device since she was infected with poliovirus at 5 years old. Her paralysis was not that serious, so did not lose the ability to walk. However, his lungs have a hard time contracting and expanding normally, so he still spends much of his day using the iron lung. In media interviews He has even described him as a very dear friend.since it is the place where he is best, without problems for the air to circulate through his lungs.
Still, like Paul, Martha would have preferred to have other friends. She has also stated on numerous occasions that her mother would have vaccinated her without hesitation if she had had that option when she was little.
Currently, this disease occurs only in low-income countries, to which the vaccine does not easily reach. Possibly people who continue to be paralyzed by the disease as well they would get vaccinated if they could. This should serve as an example of how important vaccines are. Those who say they prefer not to vaccinate their children for fear of getting them sick should say it looking Martha in the face. A face that has become the only part of her body that protrudes from that iron lung that has kept her alive since she was a child. Maybe, if they looked into those eyes, her mentality would change.