Paul Alexander, Last U.S. Man Living in an Iron Lung, Dead at 78
Paul Alexander
Paul Alexander, a polio survivor who spent most of his life being kept alive by an iron lung, has died. He was 78.
His brother, Phillip, confirmed the sad news to disability rights activist Chris Ulmer, who shared it with Alexander's many social media followers via an update published on a GoFundMe page created to help him maintain his iron lung and cover other medical and living expenses.
Alexander passed on Monday, March 11. It's unknown if he returned to the hospital or passed at home, and his official cause of death has not been shared.
He was paralyzed after contracting polio in 1952, when he was just 6 years old, and went on to attend school in his iron lung. He learned glossopharyngeal breathing, a method that allowed him to leave the machine for brief periods of time. He even went to law school at the University of Texas at Austin, graduating in 1986, and went on to practice law for 30 years.
More recently, he was no longer able to leave the machine, and found it difficult to find housing that could accommodate it, living in a one-room apartment with no windows. According to the GoFundMe's description, Alexander was "taken advantage of by people who were supposed to care for his best interests," which left him with "little money to survive."
Now, the funds raised—which surpassed $140K since the fundraiser was launched, will be used to pay for his funeral.
Alexander's social media manager, Lincoln, shared on TikTok back in February that he had been "rushed to the emergency room" after contracting Covid-19, "which is really, really dangerous, obviously, for someone with his condition."
The hospital kept an iron lung on standby just for Alexander, and he became well enough to return home the weekend of Feb. 24, but, unfortunately, remained very weak and confused. Because he remained ill, Lincoln elected to "hold off" on making any new videos with him for the time being.
Unfortunately, that was the last video he ever posted on Alexander's social media account.
In addition to being the last man living in an iron lung, at least in the United States, Alexander was also the person who lived in one the longest. Today, Martha Lillard is the last person in the country to utilize the life-saving technology.
