Key Points
A man, known as 'Polio Paul,' has been living inside an iron lung for over 70 years after he was diagnosed with polio when he was 6...
Paul Alexander had contracted polio in 1952 and, this year in March, the Guinness World Records declared him the longest iron lung patient ever, according to the New York Post...
It is an enclosed space only allowing the patient's neck and head to be out in the open.. The need for iron lungs is now considered obsolete and more modern breathing therapies have been developed..
Paul Alexander endured the worst polio outbreak in the history of the US when almost 58,000 cases were reported.. . Paul Alexander has been confined to an iron lung for 70 years after he contracted polio..
He leaned to briefly breathe outside the iron lung.. . Known as 'frog breathing', this technique uses the throat muscles to force air past the vocal cords, allowing the patient to swallow oxygen one mouthful at a time, pushing it down the throat and into the lungs...
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The man in the iron lung
13, Mar, 24The long read: When he was six, Paul Alexander contracted polio and was paralysed for life. Today he is 74, and one of the last people in the world still using an iron lung. But after surviving one deadly outbreak, he did not expect to find himself threatened by another