Paul Alexander, also known as “Polio Paul,” passed away at the age of 78 from Covid 19, it has been revealed.
Alexander died Tuesday, March 11th 2024.
His death was reported by journalist Kai Kupfershmidt.
Continue reading for more details below.
Paul Alexander Covid
Journalist Kai Kupferscmidt, who once wrote a profile of Paul Alexander, reported on his death in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
“So sad to hear that Paul Alexander passed yesterday at age 78 from 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 extended periods of time he never really left it,” he wrote.
So sad to hear that Paul Alexander passed yesterday at age 78 from 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 extended periods of time he never really left it. pic.twitter.com/nTPtALzfJu
— Kai Kupferschmidt (@kakape) March 12, 2024
Paul Richard Alexander was born January 30, 1946. He was an American lawyer and paralytic polio survivor and famous as one of the last people living in an iron lung after he contracted polio in 1952 at the age of six.
Alexander earned a bachelor’s degree and Juris Doctor at the University of Texas at Austin.
He self-published a memoir in 2020.
Polio
In the summer of 1952, when he was just six years old, Paul Alexander contracted the viral disease polio.
The illness left him paralyzed from the neck down.
Rushed to a hospital in Texas, he woke up inside the metal cylinder that would become his home for the rest of his life.
The 7-foot iron lung kept him alive, allowing him to breathe.
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Despite his physical limitations, Paul Alexander achieved remarkable feats such as attending college and becoming a lawyer. He also published his memoir and was an inspiration to millions of people worldwide.
His published autobiography was titled “Three Minutes For A Dog.”
Paul taught himself to breathe outside the iron lung for a few hours at a time.
Using a plastic stick with a pen attached, he tapped on a keyboard to communicate with others.
Unfortunately, his condition deteriorated in recent years.
He developed a persistent respiratory infection and experienced leg pain whenever he moved.
His health battles led to a Gofundme campaign to raise money to help him in 2022.
Christopher Ulmer, a friend, wrote on the crowdfunding platform: “Paul Alexander, widely known as “the man in the iron lung,” has spent his life helping and serving as a role model for many. Now he needs our help.
“He was taken advantage of by people who were supposed to care for his best interests. This theft, combined with the high cost of healthcare, has left Paul with little money to survive. He struggles to maintain his iron lung, afford healthcare, and find housing that accommodates his needs. Paul lives in a small one-room apartment that does not have a window.
“All the money contributed to this campaign will go directly to Paul and be used to maintain his iron lung, find proper housing, and provide healthcare. Thank you for caring for a man who has helped many throughout his life,”
The fundraiser raised nearly $150,000, before Paul eventually died.
Paul Alexander passed away due to an infection caused by COVID 19 on March 11, 2024.
COVID-19, also known as Coronavirus disease, is an infectious illness caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The infection brought the world to a standstill in 2020 when it became a global pandemic.
Whils most people infected with the virus experience mild to moderate respiratory symptoms and recover without requiring special treatment, some individuals may become seriously ill and need medical attention.
Particularly, older people and those with underlying medical conditions (such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, or cancer) are more likely to develop serious illness from Covid, which is exactly what happened to Paul Alexander.
Describing the late lawyer, journalist Kai Kupferschmid had nothing but positive words.
“Two years ago my colleagues and I talked to Paul for a few polio episodes of our @pandemiapodcast. Paul told us about the full life he lived, about the horror of the disease, about studying law and practicing as a lawyer, writing a book and much more,” he wrote on X.
“Paul was an extraordinary person and he lived an extraordinary life by any measure. I remember being shocked when I first heard about him, that there were people who still needed an iron lung. It was a reminder of the terror of polio and the power of vaccines.
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“But what most stuck with me after our episodes (and what my colleagues and I talked about the most) was actually the force of his spirit, his wit, his will to live life to the fullest, far beyond what people thought was possible for him,”
May he rest in peace.
Paul Alexander Iron Lung
Paul Alexander, widely known as “Polio Paul,” was an American lawyer and paralytic polio survivor.
He earned his nickname “the Man in the Iron Lung” after being left paralyzed by polio when he was just six years old in Dallas, Texas, back in 1952.
He needed to use an iron lung to control his breathing for the rest of his life.
Paul Alexander died of Covid 19 in 2024 at the age of 78.
An iron lung is a type of negative pressure ventilator (NPV), a mechanical respirator which encloses most of a person’s body, and varies the air pressure in the enclosed space, to stimulate breathing.
It assists breathing when muscle control is lost, or the work of breathing exceeds the person’s ability.
Need for this treatment may result from diseases including polio and botulism and certain poisons (for example, barbiturates, tubocurarine).
The use of iron lungs is largely obsolete in modern medicine as more modern breathing therapies have been developed and due to the eradication of polio in most of the world.
The iron lung is a large horizontal cylinder designed to stimulate breathing in patients who have lost control of their respiratory muscles.
The patient’s head is exposed outside the cylinder, while the body is sealed inside.
Air pressure inside the cylinder is cycled to facilitate inhalation and exhalation.
Thank you for reading Paul Alexander Covid – Cause of Death of ‘Iron Lung’ Paul Explored
Source: GhanaCelebrities.Com