Martha Lillard, the last American who relied on a special capsule to stay alive due to complications from polio, has passed away in the United States at the age of 78. Lillard contracted the virus at the age of 5, which severely damaged her respiratory function. She spent most of her life inside a cylindrical metal device known as an “iron lung,” which used changing air pressure to artificially expand her lungs and aid her breathing.
Although doctors predicted Martha would not live past 20, she managed to reach the age of 78. Chronic lung failure and post-polio syndrome were cited as the official causes of death. Despite her physical limitations, Lillard managed to complete her school education with the help of her family, traveled in a specially modified trailer, and even drove a car for a certain period. She noted that being inside the apparatus brought her relief, as she was physically unable to breathe without it.
Two years before Martha Lillard’s passing, another prominent American, Paul Alexander, died at the same age of 78. He was entered into the Guinness World Records as the person who spent the longest time inside this respiratory capsule.
In the 1950s, before the development of a vaccine, polio was one of the most terrifying epidemics in the United States, causing the paralysis of thousands of children. Thanks to a mass vaccination campaign, polio was declared completely eradicated in America by 1979, and “iron lungs” were replaced by modern ventilators.
