The shocking story of the 77-year-old who was stricken with polio at the age of six and lives in an “iron lung”

Paul Alexander was six years old when he was struck by poliomyelitis, which left him paralyzed from the neck down. Unable to breathe unaided, he was placed inside one special tube which was called “iron lung”, with whom he learned to live… harmoniously.

Paul showed strength of soul even though he lives dependent on machine and managed to develop his own way of breathing which he calls “frog breathing” and which allows him to go out of the device as well.

Specific respirator, which resembles a coffin, requires patients to lie in it, with a device fastened tightly around their neck. The device works by creating a vacuum and thus the lungs the patient’s organs are supplied with oxygen as the central nervous system and respiratory function have been damaged by polio.

How he developed his own breathing technique

While in the hospital, doctors tried to get Paul to breathe on his own by disconnecting him from the machine. However, as soon as this was done he began to bruise and passed out. Ultimately, however, Paul managed to breathe on his own by developing a very complex technique called “frog breathing”, as reported by New York Post.

The medical name for “frog breathing” is “glossopharyngeal breathing” which is done by swallowing air. It was Paul’s physical therapist, Mrs. Sullivan, who helped him develop this breathing technique. Paul took a year and barely managed to breathe on his own for long time, was able to get out of the iron lung. He would sit at first on the terrace of the house and then go out into the yard.

Even though to live he had to sleep on iron lungPaul slowly began to walk out of the yard. At the age of 21became the first person to graduate from a high school in Dallas without attending classes in person.

Paul recorded his experiences in his 155-page autobiography, which he wrote over five years. Paul wrote each word with a pen attached to a stick in his mouth. Now, at 77, he is one of the last people in the world still using an iron lung and relies almost exclusively on it to breathe. As Alexander has aged, he has been confined to the machine and needs round-the-clock care at a facility in Dallas. As the man said in the Guardian in 2020by the time newer machines were developed, he was used to his “old iron horse”.

“He is struggling to maintain his iron lung, afford health care and find housing that meets his needs. Paul lives in a small one-room apartment with no window,” a November 2022 GoFundMe appeal reads. “Thank you for caring about a man who has helped so many throughout his life.”