Martha Lillard, last US polio patient using iron lung, dies at 78 in Oklahoma
CNN • • health
Key Points:
- Martha Lillard, the last U.S. polio patient using an iron lung, died at age 78 in Oklahoma, with her death attributed to long-haul COVID-19 and complications from post-polio syndrome.
- Diagnosed with polio at age 5, Lillard lived much of her life relying on an iron lung to breathe, regaining partial mobility and maintaining independence despite severe paralysis.
- Lillard used technology to stay connected, including attending high school via intercom and meeting her husband online, whom she married after 20 years of communication.
- Polio, once a widespread and feared disease, was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 1979 due to widespread vaccination campaigns beginning in 1955.
- In her later years, Lillard was nearly homebound due to reduced lung capacity worsened by COVID-19, and her family struggled to maintain her iron lung as she was the last known user in the country.
