Paul Alexander- The Man With The Iron Lungs

Paul Alexander's life could be seen as tragic: a guy unable to breathe on his own, paralyzed for seven decades from the neck down because of polio. Paul Alexander, however, never allowed having polio or having an iron lung to stop him from living his life.

The iron lung is a mechanical full-body respirator that resembles a pod. Since you are unable to typically breathe in oxygen, it does so for you. If you have paralytic polio, you almost cannot leave your iron lung because you will die without it.

In fact, when Paul Alexander got polio at age six in 1952, all the physicians thought he would die. He recalls clearly being in the polio ward of the hospital and overhearing the doctors discussing him. They declared that he would pass away today. "He ought not to be living."

But that only increased his will to live. Paul Alexander was able to accomplish something that very few people can within the limits of his iron lung. He developed a new way of breathing for himself. Then, for the following 70 years, he not only survived but also thrived inside his steel ventilator.

Paul Alexander Early Life With Polio

Paul Alexander was admitted to the hospital in Texas on a hot July day in 1952. Swimming pools, movie theaters, and practically all other places were closed. People sought safety indoors as the polio pandemic raged, fearful of the emerging illness with no known treatment.

Alexander entered the house after abruptly being ill. The medical staff informed her there was no room when she called. It was best to simply try to recover at home, which is exactly what some folks did.

Alexander, however, lost all motor function after five days. His capacity to breathe was gradually failing him as well.

His mom took him right away to the ER. No cure was possible, according to doctors. He was left in a hallway after being placed on a stretcher. But a doctor who was passing by quickly noticed him and took Paul Alexander into surgery for a tracheotomy because he thought the youngster might still have a chance.

He awoke inside an iron lung amid a sea of other kids who were housed in the enormous ventilators. He was unable to speak due to his surgery. As the months passed, Alexander tried using facial gestures to communicate with other children, but "every time I'd make a friend, they'd die," he said.

But he survived. Alexander simply continued to work on a new breathing method. In the belief that he would pass away in his iron lung, the doctors sent him home. After some time, he was able to spend an hour outside the iron lung and, eventually, two hours.

Paul Alexander And Schooling

The fundamentals of reading had previously been taught to him by his mother, but the schools had forbidden him from taking classes at home. When they finally agreed, Paul rapidly made up the time he had missed while in the hospital. Alexander could write with a pen his father created that was hooked to a stick that he could hold in his mouth.

Paul Alexander received nearly straight A's in high school despite his disability.

He applied to Southern Methodist University, but was turned down purely due to his disabilities. He eventually persuaded them to let him attend. They gave him two conditions; Alexander would need to receive the newly developed polio vaccine and get a helper to push him around.

He graduated in 1978 and went on to obtain a postgraduate law degree in 1984. Alexander, then took a job teaching legal terminology at a trade school while studying for his bar exams which he later passed.

He worked as a lawyer in the Dallas-Fort Worth area for decades after that. He'd be in court in a wheelchair designed to support his disabled body. Throughout, he used a modified breathing technique that permitted him to be outside the iron lung.

What About Love?

He has also fallen in love. He met a girl named Claire in college and they were engaged. Unfortunately, an interfering mother got in the way, refusing to allow the marriage to take place or even allow Alexander to speak to her daughter. "It took years for me to recover from that," Alexander remarked.

He will be 77 on 10th January, 2023.