{"id":2086,"date":"2023-09-01T19:32:58","date_gmt":"2023-09-01T19:32:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/used82.com\/?p=2086"},"modified":"2023-09-01T19:32:58","modified_gmt":"2023-09-01T19:32:58","slug":"how-polio-paul-has-survived-living-inside-an-iron-lung-for-70-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/used82.com\/?p=2086","title":{"rendered":"How \u2018Polio Paul\u2019 has survived living inside an iron lung for 70 years"},"content":{"rendered":"

A man dubbed \u201cPolio Paul\u201d<\/a>\u00a0has lived inside a 600-pound iron lung for seven decades, reportedly refusing to upgrade to a modern machine.<\/p>\n

Paul Alexander, 77, contracted polio in 1952 when he was 6 years old.<\/p>\n

In March,\u00a0Guinness World Records declared him<\/a>\u00a0the\u00a0longest iron lung patient\u00a0ever.<\/p>\n

He has faced many challenges since he was born in 1946.<\/p>\n

Just last year, Alexander\u00a0was \u201ctaken advantage of by people who were supposed to care for his best interests,\u201d\u00a0with a fundraiser<\/a>\u00a0collecting $132,000 for him.<\/p>\n

In 1952, he endured the worst polio outbreak in US history with almost 58,000 cases \u2014 mostly children \u2014 reported.<\/p>\n

Poliomyelitis (polio)<\/a>\u00a0attacks motor neurons in the spinal cord, disrupting communication between the central nervous system and the muscles, eventually making them too weak to allow a person to breathe on their own.<\/p>\n