Death of Paul Alexander, the man who lived 72 years in an iron lung – Liberation

Seventy years ago he survived polio. Texan Paul Alexander, one of the last living iron lungs, died on Monday March 11 at the age of 78, his brother announced on Facebook. Paul Alexander was 6 years old in 1952 when he contracted polio. The disease, caused by the poliomyelitis virus, can cause irreversible paralysis, especially of the respiratory muscles. This is what happened to Paul Alexander. In these cases at that time, the only solution was to place the patient in a metal cylinder known as an iron lung to allow him to breathe. This device allows you to modify the pressure around the body to blow air into the lungs. Paul Alexander contracted Covid-19 and was hospitalized in February. The illness left him weak and dehydrated.

Despite his disability, the man earned his law degree, passed the bar and practiced as a lawyer. His brother says he also traveled to all continents. Paul Alexander shared his story in media and social networks. He had 300,000 subscribers on Tik Tok. A prize pool of more than 140,000 dollars (127,739 euros) was launched for his benefit to help maintain the machine that allows him to live. 4388 people had donated organs. “It was an honor to be a part of someone’s life that was admired as much as he was. He has touched and inspired millions of people, and that is no exaggeration. wrote her brother Philip Alexander in a message published Tuesday.

“Polio is still here”

In a video filmed for Media Brute in 2018, Paul Alexander recalled that “Polio is still here, capable of wreaking havoc on children’s lives. Something has to be done. “It’s clear that people are forgetting about polio.”, he said to the camera. In fact, the disease has been almost eradicated due to vaccination but it is resurfacing in some countries. According to the Pasteur Institute, we went from 350,000 cases in 1988 to a few hundred cases per year. Two types of vaccines exist to prevent polio, developed by Jonas Salk in the 1950s.

“Vaccination campaign of unprecedented scale Recently organized To definitively stop the virus from circulating. However, after the disappearance of the disease, some countries neglect to maintain adequate levels of vaccination coverage; Then we sometimes witness the return of poliomyelitis caused by imported wild viruses from the two countries where they are endemic. (Pakistan and Afghanistan, Editor’s Note)», writes the Pasteur Institute. As the disease is rare, vaccination coverage is reduced and surveillance is complicated by numerous asymptomatic infections. The struggle continues.