In the United States, news spread that Paul Alexander, once identified as the final user in the era of the iron lung, has passed away at age 78. The report came through a crowdfunding campaign that supported Alexander Christopher Ulmer, hosted on GoFundMe.
Born in Dallas, Texas, in 1946, Paul Alexander grew up amid one of the most severe polio outbreaks in American history. The disease left a lasting mark on the nation, with roughly 58,000 people affected during the peak months of the crisis.
The polio infection damaged the spinal cord, paralyzing Alexander and robbing him of the ability to breathe independently. An emergency tracheotomy was performed to secure the airway, and his life was sustained by a device known as the iron lung. This life-support machine created alternating negative and positive pressure inside a sealed chamber, enabling the patient to inhale and exhale despite the loss of voluntary breathing control.
Alexander spent more than seven decades within the confines of a ventilator chamber. Yet, despite such a severe limitation, he pursued higher education, earned a law degree, and authored an autobiography titled Three Minutes for a Dog: My Life in the Iron Lung, sharing the resilience and perspective gained through years of adaptation.
The iron lung, introduced in 1928 to aid those with critical polio-related breathing difficulties, is now considered obsolete in routine medical practice. Modern respiratory support relies on more compact and versatile technologies, but the iron lung remains an important historical milestone in the evolution of life-sustaining care.
Alexander’s life stands as a testament to perseverance, illustrating how a person can achieve notable milestones even while dependent on long-term mechanical ventilation. His story has contributed to ongoing conversations about disability, healthcare access, and the social dimensions of chronic illness, which continue to influence policy discussions and patient advocacy efforts in North America today.
In recent years, health professionals across the United States have monitored the emergence of illness patterns that resemble polio, prompting renewed attention to vaccination efforts and rapid response planning. This context underscores the enduring relevance of historical cases like Alexander’s in understanding how communities prepare for and respond to respiratory diseases that threaten vulnerable populations. [Citation: Historical polio studies and public health records, attribution to health archives.]