Paul Alexander, who lived in an iron lung for more than 70 years after polio left him paralyzed, has reportedly died after contracting Covid-19.
‘In the end it was not an iron lung defect but a corona infection that led to his death. He died peacefully in the presence of his brother,’ German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung reports.
The publication printed what may be the last interview with Alexander this week, with the extraordinary man telling his reporter earlier this year that he had ‘almost died a thousand times’ and suspected he didn’t have much time left.
The 78-year-old was hospitalized and tested positive for Covid-19 last month, his social media manager told his legion of fans in a TikTok video released on February 27. He was discharged and went home, said the man named Lincoln. , but was still ‘weak’.
‘I know there have been a lot of questions and comments about where the videos have been, is Paul OK?’ he said, explaining that Alexander had fallen ill.
Paul Alexander, who lived in an iron lung for more than 70 years after polio left him paralyzed, reportedly died after contracting Covid-19
Paul Alexander’s social media manager, Lincoln, said last month that he had contracted Covid-19
Paul Alexander pictured in a wheelchair in his youth. Alexander contracted polio at the age of six
“Last week, unfortunately, he was taken to the hospital emergency room, he tested positive for Covid, which is really, really dangerous for someone with his condition,” Lincoln said.
‘Luckily they have an iron lung at the hospital just for him and he was able to come home at the weekend.
“But unfortunately he’s still a bit weak, he still has some confusion around him, he’s still struggling to eat and hydrate,” he added, explaining why he wouldn’t be appearing in any videos for ‘a while yet’.
Under the handle @ironlungman, Alexander, who referred to himself as ‘Polio Paul’, shared video chats with his fans and answered questions in a series called ‘Conversations with Paul’.
He amassed millions of views and more than 330,000 followers on TikTok.
Tributes have since poured in from his followers, many of whom have left comments such as ‘RIP’ and called him an ‘inspiration’ on his post.
One wrote: ‘Rest in peace Paul Alexander, you were the most inspiring person I have had the pleasure of following forever fly high.’
Kai Kupferschmidt, a journalist who has interviewed Alexander on a number of occasions, wrote on X yesterday: ‘So sad to hear that Paul Alexander died yesterday aged 78 of Covid-19.’
‘Paul contracted polio in 1952 when he was just six years old. He ended up in an iron lung, and while he could live outside it for a long time, he never really left it.’
Christopher Ulmer, an organizer and activist for the disabled, wrote on Alexander’s GoFundMe page on Tuesday: ‘Paul Alexander, “The Man in the Iron Lung”, passed away yesterday.
‘After surviving polio as a child, he lived for over 70 years inside an iron lung. During this time, Paul attended college, became a lawyer and a published author.
‘His story traveled far and wide and positively impacted people around the world.
Paul celebrates his 78th birthday on 30 January 2024 after more than 70 years in the iron lung
‘Paul was an incredible role model who will continue to be remembered.’
During an extraordinary life, Alexander’s determination not to let his physical limitations get in the way of him achieving a series of remarkable achievements.
At 21, he became the first person to graduate from a Dallas high school without ever attending a class in person.
He was admitted to Southern Methodist University in Dallas after much hassle with university administration and then entered law school at the University of Texas, Austin.
He pursued his dreams of becoming a trial lawyer, representing clients in court in a three-piece suit and a modified wheelchair that held his paralyzed body upright.
Despite being tied to the ventilator, Alexander was able to paint and write a book
He also staged a sit-in for disability rights and published his own memoir titled ‘Three Minutes for a Dog: My Life in an Iron Lung’.
The 155-page memoir was carefully crafted and took five years to complete; Paul wrote each word with a pen attached to a stick in his mouth.
Paul survived both his parents, his brother and even his original iron lung, which began leaking air in 2015, but was repaired by mechanic Brady Richards after a YouTube video of Paul pleading for help was uploaded.
The ventilator, a large yellow metal box, requires patients to lie down inside, with the device strapped tightly around their necks.
It works by creating a vacuum to mechanically draw oxygen to the lungs of patients whose central nervous system and respiratory function were affected by polio.
While at the hospital, doctors tried to get Paul to breathe on his own, turning off the machine and forcing him out, but it wouldn’t be long before he turned blue and passed out.
Despite the availability of more modern ventilators, Paul decided to continue using the iron lung machine because he was used to it.
What is polio?
Poliomyelitis is an infectious disease that can cause paralysis or even death.
While efforts to produce vaccines effectively ended the epidemic in the Western world in the latter half of the 20th century, polio remained one of the most lethal threats to children well into the 1950s.
Polio is spread from person to person through ingestion of faeces from an infected person, or – less commonly – through coughing and sneezing.
Despite advances in sanitation and hygiene practices throughout the 19th century, the number of polio cases in Europe and America increased throughout the early 1900s.
File photo of a 1950s ward full of iron lung patients in the midst of the US polio outbreak
In the first stage of contracting the disease, the infection remains in the digestive system and the throat. Most babies are able to fight off the disease at this point without it becoming debilitating and developing immunity.
Children who develop the disease later are often less prepared to fight it without having developed resistance, which can see polio enter a second, more aggressive stage that affects the central nervous system.
Awareness of how disease spread in unsanitary conditions saw great strides forward in overcoming epidemics of cholera and typhus, but the reduced exposure to poliovirus in young people meant that many children contracted the disease later in the 20th century, with terrible consequences.
Sources: Science Museum, NHS