Martha Lillard, 78, of Oklahoma, has died, according to multiple outlets. She is described as the last known U.S. polio patient living with and relying on an iron lung, a cylindrical machine that supports breathing by changing air pressure around the patient’s body. Several reports say she contracted polio at age five and spent most of her life dependent on the device. One outlet describes her living routine as sleeping inside the chamber as air pressure cycled to help her lungs function. Her death is reported as occurring on June 26, based on an online obituary referenced by The Guardian. The New York Post quotes her younger sister, Cindy McVey, saying that doctors told Lillard she was not expected to live beyond age 20. Other reports note that the iron lung became difficult to maintain as it began to break down and that the machine was too old to repair, though the outlets characterize this differently. Across sources, the central points are her long-term reliance on the iron lung and her status as the last known American patient using one.
Martha Lillard, last known U.S. polio patient using an iron lung, dies at 78
Martha Lillard, 78, of Oklahoma, has died, according to multiple outlets. She is described as the last known U.S. polio patient living with and relying on an iron lung, a cylindrical machine that supp...
- Martha Lillard, 78, dies in Oklahoma on June 26.
- She is described as the last known U.S. polio patient living with an iron lung.
- Lillard contracted polio at age five and used the device for decades.
- The iron lung is described as a cylindrical chamber that assists breathing by changing air pressure around her body.
- Her sister says doctors previously told her she would not live past about age 20.
Martha Lillard, last U.S. polio patient using iron lung, has died at 78 in Oklahoma.
1 month agoLillard, of Oklahoma, contracted polio when she was five and slept inside cylindrical metal device to help her breatheThe last known US person living with polio and relying on an iron lung has died aged 78.Martha Lillard, who contracted polio at age five and spent most of her life dependent on an iron lung machine that helped her breathe, died on 26 June in Oklahoma, according to an online obituary. Continue reading...
1 month agoMartha Lillard, last known US polio survivor using iron lung, dies aged 78 The GuardianHours each day in an iron lung kept her breathing, her will to live kept her alive BBCOklahoma woman, the last American in an iron lung, dies at 78 KFOR.comLast U.S. Polio Survivor in an Iron Lung Dies After the Machine Began to Break Down and No One Could Repair It YahooLast Polio Patient Using Iron Lung Passes Away in Oklahoma respiratory-therapy.com
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