A man has survived 70 years inside an iron lung machine against all odds.
Doctors doubted six-year-old Paul Alexander would live much longer saying he "shouldn't be alive" as he lay flat inside his iron lung - but 70 years later he's still going.
Paul was left paralysed after being struck down by poliomyelitis, a serious viral infection that can affect the spinal cord, in 1952. That year, an epidemic had swept through Paul's hometown of Dallas, Texas, US.
He could only move his head, neck and mouth and almost died. After surviving the initial acute phase of the illness, Paul awoke in an iron lung, paralysed and unable to speak due to an emergency tracheotomy.
He was surrounded by other children – and a few adults – in the same situation, with only their heads showing from the whirring machinery.
Over the following months, many of his neighbours died, but he survived and was eventually deemed healthy enough to return home.
Now 76, he's been recognised by Guinness World Records as having spent the longest amount of time living in an iron lung. He's thought to be one of two people still living inside one of the 7ft machines.
Polio has been pretty much eradicated in the West, but the 1950s saw devastating outbreaks.
Despite efforts by public health authorities – which included the closure of bars, cinemas and any other public venue where the virus might spread – innumerable cases were recorded, resulting in thousands of deaths.
Crudely dubbed ‘Polio Paul’, the patient has lived inside an iron lung ventilator for more than 70 years.
Iron lungs consist of a sealed chamber fitted with a pump that can raise and lower the air pressure inside. The patient is placed in the chamber with their head and neck sticking out through an air-tight gasket.
The raising and lowering of the pressure inside the chamber expands and contracts the patient's lungs, allowing them to continue breathing even when the muscles of their chest have failed.
With the help of a physical therapist, Paul taught himself to "frog breathe" – using his throat muscles to force air into his lungs, gulping down air one mouthful at a time.
This allowed him to leave the iron lung for prolonged periods, eventually leaving the iron lung only to sleep.
“I lost everything: the ability to move, my legs would not hold me up and then I couldn’t breathe”, Paul said.
But he didn’t let his faulty lungs get in the way of his dream of becoming a lawyer.
Paul was the first student to graduate from a Texas high school without physically attending classes, and later attended the University of Texas where he earned a law degree.
He graduated from the University of Texas with a degree in 1978 and then as a Doctor of Law in 1984. He went on to practice law, representing his clients in courtrooms and running his own legal practice.
He said: “I do the same thing everybody else does. I wake up, wash my face, brush my teeth, shave, have some breakfast - I just need a little bit more help doing it.”
In 2020, Paul published his biography ‘Three Minutes for a Dog: My Life in an Iron Lung’.
Five years in the making, every word of the book was scribed with a pen attached to a stick held in his mouth.
