Paul Alexander, Nicknamed ‘The Man with the Iron Lung’, Dies at 78

A symbol of resilience, Paul Alexander has died. The American nicknamed “the man with the iron lung” died after seven decades of using a machine to help him breathe, his brother and a fundraising page dedicated to him announced Wednesday.

Paul Alexander, 78, contracted polio as a child and has since been paralyzed from the neck down.

Got a law degree

Although he was often confined to this machine, which covered his entire body and only his head was visible, he managed to obtain a law degree and practice in the field. He also published a book.

Her brother, Philip Alexander, announced the news on Facebook “with a heavy heart”. Paul “touched and inspired millions.” The cause of death has not been disclosed, but according to a video recently posted on Paul Alexander’s official TikTok account, he was infected with Kovid-19.

Christopher Ulmer, organizer of a fundraising campaign aimed specifically at helping pay his health expenses, also confirmed his death on the GoFundMe site. “His story has gone far, and has had a positive impact on people around the world,” wrote Christopher Ulmer, who met him in 2022.

Now the polio vaccine

An iron lung is a chamber that uses a pump to make the patient breathe. This discovery helped fight the devastating effects of polio. Cases of polio, a serious infectious disease against which there is now a vaccine, have been greatly reduced worldwide, but are still present in a few countries, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Paul Alexander kept the record of time spent in this machine for almost 70 years. According to his web page on the Guinness World Records website, he learned to take long breaths outside of the machine, forcing his throat muscles to push into his lungs.