Paul Alexander, an American citizen who suffered from polio as a child and lived his life with an ‘iron lung’, has died at the age of 78.
Paul Alexander, from Dallas, Texas, was six years old when polio left him paralyzed from the neck down in 1952.
The disease made it impossible for him to breathe, after which doctors put him in an iron cylinder, where he spent most of his life.
It was there that Paul studied law, practiced law and wrote his memoirs. He died on Monday (March 11).
His obituary was posted on the fundraising website: ‘Paul Alexander, known as the man with the iron lung, died yesterday. Paul went to college, became a lawyer and published a book. Paul was a legendary, exemplary figure.’
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His brother Philip Alexander, speaking to the BBC, described him as a man who always had a smile on his face.
He said: ‘He was like a normal brother to me, like brothers, we fought, played, loved each other and went to parties and concerts together.’
According to Philip, his brother had a great personality. He battled a serious illness all his life, so serious that he could not even eat his own food.
They said that recently Paul’s condition worsened and the two brothers spent the last days of Paul’s life together.
According to Philip: ‘It was an honor for me to be with him in his final days.’
Paul Alexander in his iron lung painting with a brush in his mouth as a child (Paul Alexander/The Independent)
‘Iron Ling’
When Paul became ill in 1952, doctors in his hometown of Dallas treated him, but he could not breathe on his own.
They solved this problem by placing his body in an iron cylinder, which they called an ‘iron lung’, and buried Paul up to his neck.
On the same cylinder, their lungs would inflate and they would inhale and in the same way they would pull it in the opposite direction to exhale.
Years later, Paul Alexander was able to breathe on his own without the help of a slander, and for a while he breathed without a slander.
Doctors, like other such patients, did not think Paul would live long, but not only did he live for decades, he also saw the invention of the polio vaccine in the 1950s.
Paul attended Southern Methodist University after high school. He received his law degree from the University of Texas in 1984 and practiced as an attorney for decades.
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