He was known to live locked in a large iron tube.
Paul Alexander, an American from Dallas, died at the age of 78 after spending 72 years in an “iron lung” due to polio.
Suffering from poliomyelitis (or infantile paralysis) since 1952, he was paralyzed from the neck down after contracting the virus and was forced to live in this tube that breathed for him.
Rushed to hospital at age 6 after developing symptoms of paralysis and breathing problems, he woke up in an "iron lung", a device he would never take off .
This device, no longer manufactured for many years, acted as a diaphragm to help him breathe.
Paul Alexander, the man who lived in an iron lung for over 70 years in Dallas, has passed away at the age of 78 pic.twitter.com/mzUDBXGPcb
— Dallas Texas TV (@DallasTexasTV) March 13, 2024
Poliomyelitis is an extremely infectious viral disease that mainly affects children under 5 years old.
The virus invades the nervous system and can cause paralysis or even death in the most severe cases.
Polio is transmitted from person to person, mainly by the fecal-oral route, but can also be carried by contaminated water or food, specifies the WHO.
Although polio is an incurable disease, it has nevertheless been possible to prevent it thanks to a vaccine since the end of the 1950s. Since then, this infection has become very rare in countries such as France or the United States.
“Polio had taken everything from me”
In 1952, this disease that everyone feared was at its peak in the United States and Paul Alexander was one of the many children placed in iron lungs to be able to breathe.
“I couldn’t speak.
I couldn't breathe.
I couldn't swallow.
Polio had taken everything from me, literally everything,” he explained in a podcast during which he returned to the beginnings of his illness.
Despite severe disabilities, he did not give up on his dreams and subsequently obtained a law degree, became a lawyer and wrote books translated around the world.
Also readResurgence of polio: “We are not safe from cases in France”
Although he recently contracted Covid-19, the cause of his death is not yet officially known.
His relatives indicated in a fundraiser organized to help him that he was "exploited by people supposed to look after his best interests", before mentioning a "theft" which would have left him little money for survive.
“Paul was an incredible model who will always be remembered” wrote the organizer of this prize pool, without failing to recall that “his story has traveled all over the world”.