71-year-old Paul Alexander is one of the only ten people left that still uses an iron lung to breathe. However, he never let his condition get in the way of pursuing his dreams.
This man is proof that anything is possible when you put your mind to it. Paul Alexander was only six years old when he was diagnosed with polio. Soon he found himself unable to breathe or move.
Polio Outbreak
Alexander explained how he felt when he woke up in his iron lung for the first time, “I didn’t know what had happened. I had all kinds of imaginings like I’d died. I kept asking myself: Is this what death is? Is this a coffin? Or have I gone to some undesirable place?”
He still remembers how worried his mother was when the virus began attacking children in their neighborhood.
His Early Memories
“I remember walking into my mom’s kitchen one day and her turning around and saying, ‘Oh no,’ and I was like, ‘Mom, I know I’m muddy and dripping on the floor.' She said, ‘Paul, go get a bath. Right now,’” he said.
He had no idea that the disaster was waiting just around the corner.
The Beginning
Alexander further explained, “After I got the mud off, she put me up in her bed, and she knew instantly. Every parent in Dallas, and everywhere else, was so afraid that the polio epidemic would come to see their child. So, she knew right away.”
He also remembers how he felt during the first couple of days of having polio. “Every day, I could do a little bit less,” he said, “Every day, it was harder to hold onto the crayons. It was like the devil going through my body, shooting all the lights out.”
Inside The Iron Lung
By the end of the first week, Alexander couldn't breathe anymore, and the doctors thought he had passed away. Fortunately, one medical professional decided to reexamine him and discovered that he still had a chance at life.
He was then rushed into an iron lung, where he would spend the rest of his life.
A Nightmare
"Nobody ever knew what happened or why he picked me up, and unfortunately, I never got to ask him," he recalls.
"But he picked me up in both arms and ran upstairs with me, and performed the tracheotomy, so they could get all the congestion out and so I could breathe."
Feeling Thankful
Living inside an iron lung was extremely challenging, but Alexander didn't give up and continued fighting for his life.
He couldn't stop thanking the kind doctor who took his time to examine him and gave him a chance at life. "He did all that, and I don't know what he saw – could've been nothing, could've been something – but for whatever reason, he was motivated to save this one child." Alexander spent the remaining of his childhood inside his iron lung. And some days were harder than others...
How The Iron Lung Works
An iron lung is a massive mechanical respirator that uses negative pressure to push the air into a person's lungs.
That way, the patient can breathe on their own while in it. When Alexander was 18, he enrolled in college. How did he make it work?
He Didn't Give Up
"The way I looked at it initially is that I could adapt myself to the iron lung, or I could make the iron lung adapt to my desires and lifestyle," he said.
"So I decided, how about the latter? I have traveled with it — put it in a truck, took it with me. I've gone to college with it, lived in a dorm. That freaked everybody out." However, the maintenance of the iron lung proved to be complicated.
Difficult Times
Finding necessary parts to keep his iron lung working hasn't always been easy. , "A lot of people who had polio and they're dead. What did they do with the iron lung? I've found them in barns. I found them in garages. I've found them in junk shops. Not much, but enough to scrounge for parts," Alexander said.
As if maintaining the machine wasn't difficult enough, finding someone who could repair it was even more problematic.
Modern Technology Helped Him
Using social media, Alexander was able to find a mechanic who repaired his almost ancient machine.
He contacted Brady Richards, a man who runs a lab that tests equipment. He also happened to have a spare iron lung in his garage. Many people are wondering why Alexander isn't using something more modern than his old iron machine, and he has an answer for that.
He Trusts The Iron Lung
"It's a rather simple machine," he said. "Give me electricity, and I'm OK," Alexander says he doesn't trust newer technology and wants to keep using his iron lung.
Luckily, Alexander doesn't need to stay inside his iron lung all the time.
Another Way Of Breathing
He taught himself a different way to breathe, which allows him to get out of the machine.
"It was years and years and years before I developed another way of breathing. It's a task that requires a lot of energy. But I was challenged to do it, I did it, and it took me a year to get it up to three minutes," he said.
Writing A Memoir
“What I do is I use my throat to gulp,” Alexander told As It Happens.“I gulp in breaths and swallow them into my lungs."
He wrote a memoir sharing his experience surviving the virus in hopes of educating people who support the anti-vaccination movement.
Sharing His Experience
“It’s their decision. But I gave them facts about polio. It’s been a hard life. It’s been tough. I’ve been abandoned by attendants. I’ve been very sick on occasions. I’ve had the government deny me care,” he shared in an interview.
Although he is against telling people how they should raise their children, he hopes his story will bring more awareness and encourage them to get vaccinated.