A man known as Polio Paul has revealed why he has refused to get out of an iron lung where he has lived for seven decades.
Paul Alexander, 77, suffered from Polio in 1952 when he was 6 years old and lost his ability to breathe and move.
This is why he has relied on an iron lung for 70 years. Doctors conducted a surgery on him to remove mucus that had filled his lungs. His body was unable to clear it when he woke up he found that he was placed in a mechanical contraption where he would spend most of his life.
“As far as you can see, rows and rows of iron lungs. Full of children,” he told The Guardian.
Polio attacks the spinal cord and leaves some survivors paralyzed. In the 1900s the virus caused annual epidemics up to 1950s. Thousands of children lost their limbs every year.
The symptoms associated with polio include muscle pain, headaches, high temperatures, tiredness, and headaches.
Many children who were affected by polio had to be placed in iron lungs. The case was 7 feet and used a vacuum to push air in and out of the user’s lungs.
In 1955 a vaccine for polio was invented. This has been responsible for protecting people against polio for decades.
Since 1990s, no case of polio has been reported in the United Kingdom. The virus was eradicated in Europe in 2003.
Paul had been left unable to move from the neck downwards. There are only two Americans still living in the iron lungs. He is one of them.
Paul has several carers who look after him, he is still using the iron lung despite the modern ventilators being in place since the 1960s. The other options available to him is to have a hole on the throat (tracheostomy) which he does not want having had one when the polio virus attached him.
Despite all these challenges Paul faced, he went a head and completed high school and graduated from university with a law degree and practiced law for decades.
Paul took time and learnt a technique known as frog breathing which allows him to gulp air down with his throat instead of using lungs. This afforded him short periods of time to leave the iron lung.
In the past, he represented clients in courts wearing three-peace and seated on wheelchair in an upright position.
Now, he is old and confined to the iron lung and lives at a facility in Dallas.
Paul’s story teaches us a lesson that limitations are only created in our minds. We can achieve a lot if we have a will to do so. When people like Paul who do not have mobility achieves a lot, the able bodied are inspired to do more.
A man named Paul has revealed why he has refused to get out of an iron lung where he has lived for seven decades.
Paul Alexander, 77, suffered from Polio in 1952 when he was 6 years old and lost his ability to breathe and move.
This is why he has relied on an iron lung for 70 years. Doctors conducted a surgery on him to remove mucus that had filled his lungs. His body was unable to clear it when he woke up he found that he was placed in a mechanical contraption where he would spend most of his life.
“As far as you can see, rows and rows of iron lungs. Full of children,” he told The Guardian.
Polio attacks the spinal cord and leaves some survivors paralyzed. In the 1900s the virus caused annual epidemics up to 1950s. Thousands of children lost their limbs every year.
The symptoms associated with polio include muscle pain, headaches, high temperatures, tiredness, and headaches.
Many children who were affected by polio had to be placed in iron lungs. The case was 7 feet and used a vacuum to push air in and out of the user’s lungs.
In 1955 a vaccine for polio was invented. This has been responsible for protecting people against polio for decades.
Since 1990s, no case of polio has been reported in the United Kingdom. The virus was eradicated in Europe in 2003.
Paul had been left unable to move from the neck downwards. There are only two Americans still living in the iron lungs. He is one of them.
Paul has several carers who look after him, he is still using the iron lung despite the modern ventilators being in place since the 1960s. The other options available to him is to have a hole on the throat (tracheostomy) which he does not want having had one when the polio virus attached him.
Despite all these challenges Paul faced, he went a head and completed high school and graduated from university with a law degree and practiced law for decades.
Paul took time and learnt a technique known as frog breathing which allows him to gulp air down with his throat instead of using lungs. This afforded him short periods of time to leave the iron lung.
In the past, he represented clients in courts wearing three-peace and seated on wheelchair in an upright position.
Now, he is old and confined to the iron lung and lives at a facility in Dallas.
Paul’s story teaches us a lesson that limitations are only created in our minds. We can achieve a lot if we have a will to do so. When people like Paul who do not have mobility achieves a lot, the able bodied are inspired to do more.
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