“I had a thousand friends before it was over with, who all wanted to find out what’s that guy downstairs with a head sticking out of a machine doing here?”

Paul now spends the majority of his life inside the iron lung. Whilst there are modern alternatives available to the device, those paralyzed by polio have claimed that they are nowhere near as effective for treating their condition.

Martha Ann Lillard, who has spent over 60 years using an iron lung, said, “I can’t use other types of ventilators because of inflammation that comes with Polio. I could be more rested if I stayed in the lung full time. But I choose to be up as much as possible.”

Paul’s lung is pictured above being repaired by Brady.

“Some people have said I’d rather die than leave my iron lung, and it makes it sound like I’m not trying to be modern, and it’s not like that at all,” Lillard added in an interview with NBC News.

“It feels wonderful, actually, if you’re not breathing well. When I was first put into it, it was such a relief. It makes all the difference when you’re not breathing.”

Lillard is pictured below as a young woman inside her iron lung.

The last major outbreak of polio in the United States took place in 1952.

However, it is not just humans who can suffer from outbreaks of respiratory diseases. A highly contagious dog flu recently ravaged the US. Watch this video to find out more:

We hope that the last iron lung users get the assistance they need to keep their devices working.

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