Paul Alexander, the man in the iron lung, dies at 78

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: News websites
14 Mar 2024 10:00

Living in an iron lung didn't stop 'Polio Paul', who spent 70 years in one and was able to accomplish a significant portion of his dreams.

Paul Alexander, seen in his apartment in Dallas in his iron lung, undated. (Social Media/X)

Paul Alexander, who defied expectations by pursuing a career as a lawyer and author despite spending the majority of the past 70 years in an iron lung, passed away Monday afternoon at the age of 78, as confirmed by his brother Philip Alexander.

He was announced dead on Tuesday through a GoFundMe page established to support his housing and healthcare expenses.

Who is Paul Alexander?

Paul was diagnosed with polio at the age of 6 in the summer of 1952, during the peak of the polio epidemic, with over 21,000 paralytic polio cases recorded in the United States that year, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The disease paralyzed Paul from the neck down and made him incapable of independent breathing. He was confined to an iron lung, a sizable metal chamber that regulates air pressure to facilitate breathing, as detailed in his autobiography.

“The doctors told us Paul could not possibly live,” Doris Alexander, Paul’s mother, said in his autobiography. “There were a few times when the electrical power failed and the lung had to be pumped by hand. Our neighbors would run over and help us pump it.”

Paul remained in an iron lung for the subsequent seven decades. In March 2023, he earned recognition as the longest-surviving iron lung patient globally by Guinness World Records.

Paul's big dreams defied Polio

Despite his condition, Paul's aspirations knew no bounds. He mastered breathing techniques enabling him to temporarily leave the iron lung for a few hours. He completed college, obtained a law degree, and pursued a career as a courtroom attorney for three decades.

He additionally self-published his autobiography, titled "Three Minutes for a Dog: My Life in an Iron Lung," inspired by his achievement of mastering independent breathing for at least three minutes—a milestone that took him a year to accomplish and was commemorated with a dog, as recounted in the book.

In 2022, Paul told CNN that he was working on writing a second book. He demonstrated his writing process using a pen attached to a plastic stick held in his mouth to tap the keyboard.

“I’ve got some big dreams. I’m not going to accept from anybody their limitations,” he said in the interview. “My life is incredible.”