Texas man who lived seven decades in iron lung dies at 78

TEXAS, United States: A paralysed Texas man who lived 70 years inside an iron lung after he survived polio as a child has died, his family said.

Paul Alexander, 78, died on Monday, his brother Philip said in a post on Facebook. He gave no cause of death.

“It was an honour to be part of someone’s life who was as admired as he was. He touched and inspired millions of people and that is no exaggeration,” Philip Alexander wrote in a post.

Alexander was six years old when he was placed in full-body metal cylinder known as an iron lung in 1952 after contracting polio, a deadly disease that once paralysed tens of thousands of children every year.

An iron lung uses pressure to blow air into the lungs.

Alexander graduated from law school, passed the bar and practiced law. He also traveled to every continent, his brother said. Alexander contracted the Covid-19 and was hospitalised in February.

His illness left him weak and dehydrated, according to a spokesperson on TikTok, where Alexander had more than 300,000 followers.