New Delhi: Paul Alexander, popularly known as the Iron Lung Man, passed away at the age of 78 on 11 March 2024 (Monday). The shocking news of his demise came days after he contracted Coronavirus and remained hospitalized in Texas for the same.
Although Paul was later allowed to go home after getting discharged from the hospital, his health conditions kept deteriorating & worsened to the extent that doing everyday things like eating, hydrating, etc became extremely challenging for him.
Paul’s Brother’s heartfelt note
With his death, Paul’s GoFundMe fundraiser page which raised as much as Rs 1.20 crores for supporting his medical & other expenses throughout the years, was also discontinued by its manager Christopher Ulmer.
Disabling the GoFundMe account for any new donations, Ulmer also shared a heartfelt note penned by Paul’s brother Philip for all the donors who contributed toward the fundraiser.
Philip’s note read, “I am so grateful to everybody who donated to my brother’s fundraiser. It allowed him to live his last few years stress-free. It will also pay for his funeral during this difficult time.”
Who was Paul Alexender?
Paul Alexender or ‘The Polio Paul’ spent over 70 years of his life contained in a cylindrical iron structure called Iron Lung. His destiny took a tragic turn in 1952 when he contracted polio and became paralyzed at the young age of 6.
The Polio contraction caused many vital parts of Paul’s body to stop functioning & left him in a condition where he could only move his neck, head mouth, and eyes. As his condition further worsened, Dcotors, in an attempt to save him from dying, made the tough decision of confining him inside an Iron lung in which he spent nearly 7 decades of his life.
Paul’s Iron Lung, which was an airtight giant capsule, kept him alive for years by collecting Oxygen using negative pressure (NPV), thereby enabling his otherwise dysfunctioning lungs to expand and allow him to breathe.
Paul Alexander’s Inspirational Life
Despite being confined inside a cylindrical structure for almost his entire life, Paul didn’t lose hope of living his life to the fullest and went on to do several unimaginable things.
Ignoring his miserable condition, the guy went on to graduate from the University of Texas at Austin & even earned a degree in Law for himself in the year 1984. He eventually also got enrolled as an advocate & continued his legal practice in the coming years.
Gradually, Paul also mastered the technique of Forg Breathing which allowed him to come out from his mechanical respirator and breathe by himself for a few minutes each day. However, during his old age, he once again became entirely dependent on the machine & spent his final years under full-time supervision.
Paul Alexander’s Book & Guinness World Record
In 2020, Paul published his self-written book ‘Three Minutes for a Dog: My Life in an Iron Lung’ which served as an inspiration for many going through difficult times in their respective lives.
Despite all the disabilities, Alexander lived a remarkable life, outliving his mother, father, brother, and becoming the longest-surviving Iron Lung patient in the history of mankind in March 2023. He also holds a Guinness World record for the same.
