Martha Lillard, last US polio patient using iron lung, dies at 78
Her sister said complications from long-haul COVID-19 and post-polio syndrome contributed to the death of the 78-year-old, who used an iron lung for decades.
- Martha Ann Lillard, the last known person in the United States to depend on an iron lung, died June 26 in Oklahoma at age 78. Her sister, Cindy McVey, attributed the death to complications from long-haul COVID-19.
- Contracted at age 5, polio left Lillard paralyzed and dependent on the iron lung, a metal respiratory device. These machines were widely used during 20th-century polio outbreaks before vaccines significantly reduced cases of the disease.
- Despite physical limitations, Lillard advocated for people with disabilities and shared her story to educate others about polio. She spent many years living alone, writing poems, and assisting in animal rescue efforts as a volunteer.
- Maintaining the 1940s-era machine became increasingly difficult in recent years as repair parts and expertise vanished. Lillard and McVey struggled to find technicians capable of fixing the equipment, which Lillard used nearly 24 hours daily.
- Her death marks the end of an era for a generation of polio survivors who relied on medical technology for survival. Federal data confirms vaccination campaigns successfully reduced annual United States cases to fewer than 10.
124 Articles
124 Articles
The American woman depended on an artificial lung made in the 1950s to live; after contracting coronavirus, her health deteriorated even further.
After her polio illness in childhood, Martha Lillard was dependent on an iron lung all her life. With her death, the last use of this historical technique probably disappears.
Her lifesaver has long been a case for the museum of medical history: the American woman Martha Lillard, who became a child of polio, was considered the last person to need an "iron lung". Now she has died.
He contracted the disease in 1953, spent months on a full-body respirator and maintained a creative life despite living with only 25% of his lung capacity.
Martha Lillard, the last polio patient in the United States who relied on a "iron lung" ventilator for most of her life, died at the age of 78 after battling COVID-19.
Last American to use an iron lung dies at 78 years old after childhood polio diagnosis – Democratic Accent
A 78-year-old Oklahoma woman who was diagnosed with polio as a child and was the last American to rely on an iron lung to live has died. Martha Lillard found out she had the once-feared disease when she was 5 years old, which left her paralyzed from the neck down, and required her to use the machine to help her breathe while she slept. Lillard contracted COVID-19 twice during the pandemic, which left her in the machine nearly 24 hours a day. DEA…
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