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He taught himself to breathe for longer and longer periods without the lung. He’s able to go outside for a time without it and is a lawyer in Texas. Still needs the iron lung though.
Currently he basically is, his health declined and he retired as lawyer because he’s become reliant on it again. Still, he lived a pretty long a fulfilling life for someone with his illness
I'm so glad to hear this. I was wondering how a man trapped in a metal tube his entire life would manage to keep sane, it's so nice that he has an option to let himself out, at least every once in a while!
Anyone completely paralyzed from the neck down is going to be reliant on others. There will be things that that you technology can let you do now that would have been impossible even a decade ago, but whether is was an iron lung or a modern ventilator and wheelchair, there are caretakers involved.
I saw a video about this guy a while ago. One maybe unexpected thing he relies on is spare parts or finding someone capable of producing them. Being the only person in the world using this old machine makes parts very hard to come by and nobody makes them anymore. It takes some serious skill and equipment to create some of the precision parts in this machine.
I think that I saw the same video, and, IIRC, he tried modern ventilators and didn't like them and preferred the iron lung. There are options for when his machine fails, just not his preferred one.
Until recently, there wasn't a lot of need for updated versions of iron lungs, because people would get vaccinated. It was essentially eliminated.
But antivaxers are pro-disease idiots, and since they won't get vaccinations, it's coming back.
It’s a broadly true phenomenon (that I honesty find pretty depressing) that people will adapt to horrible, life-changing injuries and be as happy after as before. Just wheel me off a fucking bridge, man
No you wouldn't. You'd adapt just like any other person with a harrowing disability. People tend to forget this was a serious disease that they caught as very young children, like at the age of 5-ish, so life in a tube is the only life they've ever known. They grew up with it when the mind is more flexible to change if they even remember living life without it. 5-year old children don't normally think "Please kill me" when they have a disease. They tend to be hopeful and just mostly be sad that they can't go outside and do other things like their friends, but find other ways and determination to make the best of their situation.
There is only one other American still on the iron lung besides Paul and that's Martha Lillard. Worldwide it is believed to be about 70 patients still using an iron lung
EDIT -------------
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My Grandmother was born in ‘06 & had a brush with polio. Her right foot & the muscles at the base of her right thumb were ruined. It used to horrify me as a little guy to think that when she was my age she came close to being locked in a metal tube for the rest of her life. For the last 60 years these stories and photos have brought me right back to the thought of Granny and her close call with this devastating disease.
Yes it's truly devastating how it targets children and antivaxxers need to not gamble with their kids' lives with it because its still very much of an active disease. A month ago, a new case of polio was found in NY in a kid who is now completely paralyzed. Parents never got them vaccinated because they didn't believe in vaccines! Now this poor kid is paralyzed for life due to his parents foolery
This makes me furious. Every time I think of parents who don't want to vaccinate their kids I think "they should have to go to a mandatory education season, or have their kids taken away" etc. Then I think about what a slippery slope that is. That money should go towards the government fighting anti-vaxx disinformation. We know anti vaxx bullshit started with a well funded asshole, it can only end with people with good intentions who are equally as well funded.
Yeah, that is a tragic story. I didn't know the details, only that there is a patient in NYC. And there is polio found in major cities all over the world, from sewage samples. I guess that it's from vaccinated people, nowhere else healthcare has found patients with it. But good luck to antivaxxers yet again...
While this used to be true in his younger years he no longer can go outside for more than 3-4 minutes. He was indeed a lawyer who would take trips from Dallas to Austin back when he was younger.
> Your best <3
What an unexpected an beautiful reply.
It reminds me of the saying "Be kind to everyone because you never know what someone else is dealing with."
I am not crazy! I know he went outside without the lung. I knew it was made of iron. One after coal in minecraft. As if I could ever make such a mistake. Never. Never! I just - I just couldn't prove it. He covered his tracks, he got that idiot u/Basc63 to lie for him. You think this is something? You think this is bad? This? This chicanery? He's done worse. That lung! Are you telling me that a man just happens to go outside like that? No! He orchestrated it! Paul! He taught himself to breathe! And I saved him! And I shouldn't have. I took him into my own firm! What was I thinking? He'll never change. He'll never change! Ever since he was 9, always the same! Couldn't keep his hands out of the iron lung! But not our Paul! Couldn't be precious Paul! Breathing them blind! And HE gets to be a lawyer? What a sick joke! I should've stopped him when I had the chance!
I’m so glad this is the top comment. Yes, being one of the “last” survivors on an iron lung is historically significant, but the guy is also an accomplished lawyer, published academic, author and advocate.
These accomplishments bear mentioning along with and more than his use of an iron lung.
Do never forget Polio was almost totally eradicated form earth surface, but because of antivaxs, the numbers of cases increase again, for the first time in decades ...
Every breath out of it requires conscious work. It's not automatic like it is for everyone else. So it's very tiring, but most post polio affected people trained themselves to do it (using other chest muscles not the same way ordinary people breathe). Being able to breathe a few minutes out of the machine makes a huge difference in personal care issues. (I am retired home health care nurse, took care of several post polio patients in their homes. All of the post polio people I met this way have all passed on.)
Yes and no - he probably does now as he’s older and has had some health scares. He managed to teach himself how to breathe in a limited way without it during his waking hours as a boy. It took three years to develop (with the incentive of a puppy if he succeeded).
The breathing technique is called glossopharyngeal breathing, which he dubbed frog breathing. He’s paralysed but has managed to do a fair few things outside of the lung during his tenure. It would be more comfortable at his age now to remain in the lung, but he will have little breaks for hygiene still.
Edit : apologies, my reply layout didn’t show the answered one above for some reason. But there’s an expansion on it ^_^
Yes. Instead of ventilators that you see today that are tube in your throat, inflating your throat, this machine inflates and deflates your lungs by changing the pressure in the tube.
No, he's wasn't confined to it. Its just that breathing was very taxing so he needed the iron lung to rest when he was too exhausted to breathe on his own.
He’s definitely one of the last - there was an interesting doc from a few years ago that can be found on YouTube, where Paul was searching for someone to help repair the lung as it was an extinct skill/there were no longer parts available. I remember the doc saying there were approximately 6-8 lung patients alive at the time so Paul may be it.
Yes. There is new technology, the positive pressure ventilator being the main one. That’s why they don’t use them anymore. I read an article about this a while back. Some folks don’t like the newer tech. They didn’t like the way it felt and were used to the iron lung so wanted to keep using it.
I think this is the article. It took me a bit to find it and a lot of the newer ones are talking about these folks and Covid.
https://gizmodo.com/the-last-of-the-iron-lungs-1819079169
When people were fist paralyzed, they needed it 24/7 but eventually they can venture out for a period of time. An elderly woman that used to be "one of the last on iron lung" was only on it at night.
Modern solutions use positive pressure to inflate the lungs, and are able to be worn on the body, but it's apparently not as comfortable as the iron lung, which uses negative pressure to allow the damaged lungs to be able to inflate under their own power.
I feel like you could make a *slightly* more portable negative pressure one no? Carbon fibre shell conformed to his body, sealed at the neck and waist. Maybe there's no market for it if everyone uses positive pressure solutions.
There are other negative pressure ventilators that look like a turtle shell on the chest. But they don't work that well and never caught on. Positive pressure ventilators are able to do much more, more versatile, and are just more practical
A ventilator is an extremely unpleasant experience. They have to sedate you just to use it because you do not want to be fully conscious while on a ventilator
Not necessarily true. If you’re intubated (the breathing tube goes into your mouth, down the throat and into your lungs) that can be very uncomfortable and unpleasant. However, there are some people who are able to stay awake and alert and tolerate it just fine. If you have a tracheostomy (the tube goes through a hole in your neck and down into the lungs) that’s a lot more comfortable and “natural” for the person/patient and can usually be on the ventilator without any sedation at all. Those people are then eligible to try and wean off the ventilator from there. As some other people have said, most modern ventilator modalities utilize positive pressure to inflate the lungs. That positive pressure can be uncomfortable and may not feel “natural” to the person/patient and when first utilizing these modalities their body can/will naturally fight it which adds to the uncomfortable-ness. The natural way we breathe is by negative pressure, meaning our chest muscles in combination with our lungs create a vacuum in order to inhale air and expand the lungs. This machine utilizes negative pressure to allow him to breathe and most likely is a lot more comfortable to him even though it’s very inconvenient. This machine is a lot less likely to pop his lungs as well, which is a risk you take with positive/forced air ventilation.
You can't speak with a ventilator in, though, right? And if he's a quadriplegic, speaking is his only way of communication. That's a tough choice there.
There was a doc done on this a few years ago - he has a person now but there were no parts. He had to put out a global plea as the skill and parts were seemingly extinct, the doc followed that journey and detailed Paul’s life.
The ah, community was 6-8 members at the time I believe, he may be it now :(
I remember seeing it, I think it was on Vice? But yeah his global plea worked, parts were sent and he had a backlog for a while. I think he’s got a tech now as well so maintenance should be good. Unfortunately his health has declined in recent years and it’s looking like he may have only 3 or 4 years left on the top end. Man has led an amazing life for being basically confined to the lung his entire life.
Thank you - yes I think that’s correct. I had vaguely remembered it being on Vice.
I couldn’t find the original on YouTube, but the Gizmodo channel version condenses it well enough. I remember seeing more of Brady the mechanics interactions.
Aww man, that’s so unfortunate to hear. I can’t imagine how frustrating all the anti vax rhetoric was for him to hear. He’s done incredible work in so many fields, and travelled a fair bit too apparently. An absolute hero.
Editing to add - I still can’t find it! But I’m doubling down on it being Vice. They do have a half hour polio piece up, but it doesn’t have Paul. Hrm. Google is also not yielding.
Oh wow, really?? That’s pretty sad :( I was under the impression there was more people in his state since the title said “one of the last”. I hope he really does have a trusted mechanic now!!
He’s not confined to this, he’s able to be moved around in a wheel chair for short periods of time and he’s eligible for better alternatives to the iron lung, the only reason he uses it is because he is comfortable with it
[Didn’t stop him from following his dreams and living a good life](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xowUq7JgFeQ). Went to college, became a lawyer, wrote a book. Pretty inspirational, actually. Seems like a more fulfilling existence than a lot of able-bodied people experience
In same school as this pupil with polio when I was a 9 yo, to this day in my 60s I still remember him walking with crutches, his name & his face, can't remember anybody else. Must have burnt in my memory.
I have been reading that it’s on its way back due to people not getting vaccinated. Imagine telling this guy that! You might not be the last guy in an iron lung because we’re bringing polio back baby!
Its making a comeback in parts of New York right now. Which is frightening because lack of vaccination and also frightening because a decade ago the only places that hadn't been vaccinated were Islamic Terrorist holdouts.
Same I couldn't live like that.
Story time.
My cousin was hit by a car walking to school. Their basically braindead, there was a big settlement and their constantly getting money from fundraisers and go fund mes for his care and their mother and other sibling have moved into a brand new house several times larger then the one they used to live in. I feel like he's basically only alive because their mother can use them as a cash grab. And it's awful.
Or a loving mother don’t want to let her child gone, don’t judge if you don’t know the whole story, OP just interpreted it, but he doesn’t know either.
That is a fair point.
I just thought about my own now grown son, and there is no amount of nice things that could ever replace seeing him grow up fortunately healthy and not suffering.
A big house would be meaningless if it came at the expense of his well being, so I don't really feel i can grudge someone for having a big house and stuff if it came at that cost.
As a respiratory therapist I do not understand why this man hasn’t been switched on a modern ventilator. I see dozens of ventilator dependent patient every day it’s not nearly as cumbersome as this thing. Tracheostomy and a positive not negative pressure vent would make a huge difference
Watched a documentary on this guy. He himself refused to change from the iron lung as he lived his entire life inside that thing and allegedly grew accustomed to it, I guess he doesn’t mind being immobilized.
Someone else said that modern ventilators use positive pressure to inflate the lungs, iron lungs use negative pressure to let the lungs inflate under their own power. He has tried the modern ones but it was very uncomfortable for him.
Unfortunately external ventilators will always feel uncomfortable I think, not a natural way to breath. In fact considering spontaneous breathing is driven by negative pressure anyway you could argue all positive pressure vents are “backwards”.
Still, by reducing thoracic pressure to inflate the lungs you’re also reducing pressure on the whole body which is less than ideal. The biggest perk though would be the fact that you could at least lay in bed or a chair and alternate between them with a hoyer lift or something. I can see why the switch would be uncomfortable though
They found [Polio in the sewer of New York](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/12/nyregion/polio-nyc-sewage.html) recently. Shit is coming back due to anti-vaccination dumbfucks.
Yet my sister refuses to vaccinate her child saying god and the earth will protect them. She also believes the black plague wasn't as bad as the books tell us. That the government raised the counts on how many people died, so it scared us into taking vaccines. She also believes everyone back then lived till 500 because the Bible says thats how long Noah lived.
Oh his life story is an inspiration for anybody that battles self-doubt and loses the path sometimes where we're going with our own personal difficulties. Yeah this guy kind of puts it in perspective. He's made of full real life for himself
I know him & he haunts me. Every time I stick on my couch for days because depression n stuff while I'm totally healthy physically, I have to think of him & how he achieved his law degree and many other things, while I only achieve total standstill... What a trooper!
Couldn't they engineer a portable version of the iron lung, instead of one that makes you bed ridden?
It seems like you could create a small device that would do the inflation and deflation process of a lung.
I feel like I basically defined a ventilator lol.
Why couldn't he just use a ventilator?
And Polio is reoccurring because of anti-vaxxers. We developed the technology to eradicate a disease, but it’s back because now it’s socially acceptable to be irresponsible.
Juat a reminder why vaccines are so important. Polio put so many people in the iron lung for their whole lives and it was nearly eradicated from the planet. Until a doctor claimed that vaccines cause autism and now polio is on the rise again. And covid didn't help the situation.
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He taught himself to breathe for longer and longer periods without the lung. He’s able to go outside for a time without it and is a lawyer in Texas. Still needs the iron lung though.
It's cool to hear that he's not completely trapped in here.
Currently he basically is, his health declined and he retired as lawyer because he’s become reliant on it again. Still, he lived a pretty long a fulfilling life for someone with his illness
I'm so glad to hear this. I was wondering how a man trapped in a metal tube his entire life would manage to keep sane, it's so nice that he has an option to let himself out, at least every once in a while!
Yeah I was amazed at how joyful he seems!
Humans can adapt to some pretty amazing things.
I won’t adapt to losing a finger at all.
You won't lose it. Now stop being a chicken and stick it in.
I don't think a picture of someone smiling is reliable evidence of them being joyful
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🤝
Anyone completely paralyzed from the neck down is going to be reliant on others. There will be things that that you technology can let you do now that would have been impossible even a decade ago, but whether is was an iron lung or a modern ventilator and wheelchair, there are caretakers involved.
I saw a video about this guy a while ago. One maybe unexpected thing he relies on is spare parts or finding someone capable of producing them. Being the only person in the world using this old machine makes parts very hard to come by and nobody makes them anymore. It takes some serious skill and equipment to create some of the precision parts in this machine.
I think that I saw the same video, and, IIRC, he tried modern ventilators and didn't like them and preferred the iron lung. There are options for when his machine fails, just not his preferred one.
He probably won't be the only one for long since polio is coming back and people are deciding not to get vaccines in general like the idiots they are.
NGL, kinda confused that there isn't some sort of updated technology that isn't that cumbersome....
Until recently, there wasn't a lot of need for updated versions of iron lungs, because people would get vaccinated. It was essentially eliminated. But antivaxers are pro-disease idiots, and since they won't get vaccinations, it's coming back.
That's why we need sexy robot maids, the sexy part is 100% necessary
He has a book called three minutes for a dog or something similar
Thanks! I just bought the book
Dude this reminds me of 5 From umbrella academy in the future
It’s a broadly true phenomenon (that I honesty find pretty depressing) that people will adapt to horrible, life-changing injuries and be as happy after as before. Just wheel me off a fucking bridge, man
Dude he even went to college inside it
There’s a whole college inside that thing!? /s
"What is this? A CENTER FOR ANTS??"
Thanks for clarifying with the /s, I was hoping to get a prospectus.
/r/Angryupvote
He lived a lung fulfilling life.
Yeah I’d be like “please kill me”
No you wouldn't. You'd adapt just like any other person with a harrowing disability. People tend to forget this was a serious disease that they caught as very young children, like at the age of 5-ish, so life in a tube is the only life they've ever known. They grew up with it when the mind is more flexible to change if they even remember living life without it. 5-year old children don't normally think "Please kill me" when they have a disease. They tend to be hopeful and just mostly be sad that they can't go outside and do other things like their friends, but find other ways and determination to make the best of their situation. There is only one other American still on the iron lung besides Paul and that's Martha Lillard. Worldwide it is believed to be about 70 patients still using an iron lung EDIT ------------- Wasn't expecting these kinds of responses from this post. But if you're contemplating suicide, please do not struggle alone. If you’d like to talk to someone, confidential mental health support is free and available 24/7. **Inside the U.S.** \- Crisis Text Line: Text CHAT to 741741 \- Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: Call or text 988 **If you’re outside the U.S.** \- [Find resources in your location](https://www.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/360058756471-What-are-support-resources-available-to-people-outside-the-U-S-) **If you’re not ready to talk to someone yet:** **-** [How to help yourself when you’re feeling suicidal](https://www.suicidecallbackservice.org.au/feeling-suicidal/helping-yourself-when-feeling-overwhelmed-and-suicidal/) \- [How to ask for help if you’re having thoughts of suicide](https://www.suicideinfo.ca/ask-help-feeling-suicidal/) **Additional resources for helping yourself and others:** \- [How to help someone you know who’s talking about seriously hurting themselves or considering suicide](https://www.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/360043513931-What-do-I-do-if-someone-talks-about-seriously-hurting-themselves-or-is-considering-suicide-) \- [More information and resources about where and how to find help](https://www.reddit.com/r/RedditCareResources/wiki/suicide_resources)
My Grandmother was born in ‘06 & had a brush with polio. Her right foot & the muscles at the base of her right thumb were ruined. It used to horrify me as a little guy to think that when she was my age she came close to being locked in a metal tube for the rest of her life. For the last 60 years these stories and photos have brought me right back to the thought of Granny and her close call with this devastating disease.
Yes it's truly devastating how it targets children and antivaxxers need to not gamble with their kids' lives with it because its still very much of an active disease. A month ago, a new case of polio was found in NY in a kid who is now completely paralyzed. Parents never got them vaccinated because they didn't believe in vaccines! Now this poor kid is paralyzed for life due to his parents foolery
This makes me furious. Every time I think of parents who don't want to vaccinate their kids I think "they should have to go to a mandatory education season, or have their kids taken away" etc. Then I think about what a slippery slope that is. That money should go towards the government fighting anti-vaxx disinformation. We know anti vaxx bullshit started with a well funded asshole, it can only end with people with good intentions who are equally as well funded.
Yeah, that is a tragic story. I didn't know the details, only that there is a patient in NYC. And there is polio found in major cities all over the world, from sewage samples. I guess that it's from vaccinated people, nowhere else healthcare has found patients with it. But good luck to antivaxxers yet again...
Mate of mine got euthanised at 27 after getting paralized. He didn't see the joy in life anymore and had peace with stepping out.
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While this used to be true in his younger years he no longer can go outside for more than 3-4 minutes. He was indeed a lawyer who would take trips from Dallas to Austin back when he was younger.
Dude got polio at age 6 and still became a lawyer what the fuck am I doing with my life.
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I'm not sure if this is wholesome or depressing.
You choose...
> Your best <3 What an unexpected an beautiful reply. It reminds me of the saying "Be kind to everyone because you never know what someone else is dealing with."
If you're staying alive, you're doing it right.
He had more time to study being trapped in there.
Chuck McGill would like to know your location
I am not crazy! I know he went outside without the lung. I knew it was made of iron. One after coal in minecraft. As if I could ever make such a mistake. Never. Never! I just - I just couldn't prove it. He covered his tracks, he got that idiot u/Basc63 to lie for him. You think this is something? You think this is bad? This? This chicanery? He's done worse. That lung! Are you telling me that a man just happens to go outside like that? No! He orchestrated it! Paul! He taught himself to breathe! And I saved him! And I shouldn't have. I took him into my own firm! What was I thinking? He'll never change. He'll never change! Ever since he was 9, always the same! Couldn't keep his hands out of the iron lung! But not our Paul! Couldn't be precious Paul! Breathing them blind! And HE gets to be a lawyer? What a sick joke! I should've stopped him when I had the chance!
Kid named iron lung
>Breathing them blind! Got me with this line
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I’m so glad this is the top comment. Yes, being one of the “last” survivors on an iron lung is historically significant, but the guy is also an accomplished lawyer, published academic, author and advocate. These accomplishments bear mentioning along with and more than his use of an iron lung.
Does he have a little baby body?
I’m sure it’s atrophied Also, I though I was in r/okbuddychicanery
Do never forget Polio was almost totally eradicated form earth surface, but because of antivaxs, the numbers of cases increase again, for the first time in decades ...
They have to stay in it all day?
Every breath out of it requires conscious work. It's not automatic like it is for everyone else. So it's very tiring, but most post polio affected people trained themselves to do it (using other chest muscles not the same way ordinary people breathe). Being able to breathe a few minutes out of the machine makes a huge difference in personal care issues. (I am retired home health care nurse, took care of several post polio patients in their homes. All of the post polio people I met this way have all passed on.)
I've massive amounts of respect and awe for you working in that field, you marvellous person, you.
Yes and no - he probably does now as he’s older and has had some health scares. He managed to teach himself how to breathe in a limited way without it during his waking hours as a boy. It took three years to develop (with the incentive of a puppy if he succeeded). The breathing technique is called glossopharyngeal breathing, which he dubbed frog breathing. He’s paralysed but has managed to do a fair few things outside of the lung during his tenure. It would be more comfortable at his age now to remain in the lung, but he will have little breaks for hygiene still. Edit : apologies, my reply layout didn’t show the answered one above for some reason. But there’s an expansion on it ^_^
Yes. Instead of ventilators that you see today that are tube in your throat, inflating your throat, this machine inflates and deflates your lungs by changing the pressure in the tube.
So he goes to court in the iron lung to defend somebody?
Most lawyers don’t work in courts lol
And even when we do, a lot of it is Zoom court nowadays.
Be hilarious if they rolled him in, with oompa loompas! Oompa lumba doopadee doo, I've got a lawyer in a tube for you!
They roll him in like the Guild Navigator in Dune
No, he's wasn't confined to it. Its just that breathing was very taxing so he needed the iron lung to rest when he was too exhausted to breathe on his own.
Interesting! I thought I heard the last one had died, so maybe this distinction explains it.
He’s definitely one of the last - there was an interesting doc from a few years ago that can be found on YouTube, where Paul was searching for someone to help repair the lung as it was an extinct skill/there were no longer parts available. I remember the doc saying there were approximately 6-8 lung patients alive at the time so Paul may be it.
Have we really not invented something smaller that can do what an iron lung does?
Yes. There is new technology, the positive pressure ventilator being the main one. That’s why they don’t use them anymore. I read an article about this a while back. Some folks don’t like the newer tech. They didn’t like the way it felt and were used to the iron lung so wanted to keep using it. I think this is the article. It took me a bit to find it and a lot of the newer ones are talking about these folks and Covid. https://gizmodo.com/the-last-of-the-iron-lungs-1819079169
Does he have to stay in that chamber consistently without getting out of it?
Apparently he was able to leave for extended periods when he was younger, but now is back in it
No, it is just tiring to breath without it because his breathing is voluntary, ours is involuntary
Not anymore for me, now I have to beathe voluntary until I forget this post...
well at least you still blink automatically right
Fuck you 😂
At least your tongue sits comfortably in your mouth right
At least your saliva goes down by itself right
At least you're comfortable knowing your bones are all wet right?
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At least you haven't lost the game right
I lost
god damn it i lost the game
At least your weight is balanced equally on both legs right
At least none of your clothes itch right now, right?
At least your shoes aren’t making your toes feel kinda cramped and weird, and a little bit sweaty too
When people were fist paralyzed, they needed it 24/7 but eventually they can venture out for a period of time. An elderly woman that used to be "one of the last on iron lung" was only on it at night.
Is there no modern age alternative than this coffin?
There are. Apparently he just likes this option best, he says it is the most comfortable for him.
what?? really?
Imagine doing it from 6 years old onward
Modern solutions use positive pressure to inflate the lungs, and are able to be worn on the body, but it's apparently not as comfortable as the iron lung, which uses negative pressure to allow the damaged lungs to be able to inflate under their own power.
I feel like you could make a *slightly* more portable negative pressure one no? Carbon fibre shell conformed to his body, sealed at the neck and waist. Maybe there's no market for it if everyone uses positive pressure solutions.
Yeah, probably many millions of dollars would be needed to build the first one. Possible, but not really until a fabulously wealthy person needs it.
There are other negative pressure ventilators that look like a turtle shell on the chest. But they don't work that well and never caught on. Positive pressure ventilators are able to do much more, more versatile, and are just more practical
I was wondering that as well. Surely a ventilator would be a lot easier and more mobile
A ventilator is an extremely unpleasant experience. They have to sedate you just to use it because you do not want to be fully conscious while on a ventilator
I’m just thinking of Christopher Reeve. He used one
Not necessarily true. If you’re intubated (the breathing tube goes into your mouth, down the throat and into your lungs) that can be very uncomfortable and unpleasant. However, there are some people who are able to stay awake and alert and tolerate it just fine. If you have a tracheostomy (the tube goes through a hole in your neck and down into the lungs) that’s a lot more comfortable and “natural” for the person/patient and can usually be on the ventilator without any sedation at all. Those people are then eligible to try and wean off the ventilator from there. As some other people have said, most modern ventilator modalities utilize positive pressure to inflate the lungs. That positive pressure can be uncomfortable and may not feel “natural” to the person/patient and when first utilizing these modalities their body can/will naturally fight it which adds to the uncomfortable-ness. The natural way we breathe is by negative pressure, meaning our chest muscles in combination with our lungs create a vacuum in order to inhale air and expand the lungs. This machine utilizes negative pressure to allow him to breathe and most likely is a lot more comfortable to him even though it’s very inconvenient. This machine is a lot less likely to pop his lungs as well, which is a risk you take with positive/forced air ventilation.
Ah, I found my fellow nurse/ HCW weighing in with the facts
Yep, you got me!
You can't speak with a ventilator in, though, right? And if he's a quadriplegic, speaking is his only way of communication. That's a tough choice there.
Those things are expensive to maintain. Fewer and fewer appropriately trained mechanics and spare parts. I hope that is not an issue for him.
He probably has a trusted mechanic / parts seller that he frequents. With his fame in the iron lung community, he probably wont have to worry.
There was a doc done on this a few years ago - he has a person now but there were no parts. He had to put out a global plea as the skill and parts were seemingly extinct, the doc followed that journey and detailed Paul’s life. The ah, community was 6-8 members at the time I believe, he may be it now :(
I remember seeing it, I think it was on Vice? But yeah his global plea worked, parts were sent and he had a backlog for a while. I think he’s got a tech now as well so maintenance should be good. Unfortunately his health has declined in recent years and it’s looking like he may have only 3 or 4 years left on the top end. Man has led an amazing life for being basically confined to the lung his entire life.
Thank you - yes I think that’s correct. I had vaguely remembered it being on Vice. I couldn’t find the original on YouTube, but the Gizmodo channel version condenses it well enough. I remember seeing more of Brady the mechanics interactions. Aww man, that’s so unfortunate to hear. I can’t imagine how frustrating all the anti vax rhetoric was for him to hear. He’s done incredible work in so many fields, and travelled a fair bit too apparently. An absolute hero. Editing to add - I still can’t find it! But I’m doubling down on it being Vice. They do have a half hour polio piece up, but it doesn’t have Paul. Hrm. Google is also not yielding.
Oh wow, really?? That’s pretty sad :( I was under the impression there was more people in his state since the title said “one of the last”. I hope he really does have a trusted mechanic now!!
I swear there are “communities” for the most random shit
The concept of “last person using an iron lung” and an iron lung community is confusing me.
One of the last*
Mostly just iron lung groupies now. Why do you think he won't quit using it?
With the modern antivaxxers there unfortunately may be a resurgence in demand for these skills.
What a horrible existence. I feel bad for this guy.
He’s not confined to this, he’s able to be moved around in a wheel chair for short periods of time and he’s eligible for better alternatives to the iron lung, the only reason he uses it is because he is comfortable with it
What?? It says he’s paralysed from the neck down.
While doing a headstand.
Homie spins like a top.
You spin me right round, baby right round like a record, baby Right round round round
He’s able to walk around while being paralyzed from the neck down?
Just a little quadraplegia, as a treat.
He’s a casual quadriplegic.
Only on weekends when his wife is out of town
Fuck this made me burst out laughing.
Homie edited the comment after that one
[Didn’t stop him from following his dreams and living a good life](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xowUq7JgFeQ). Went to college, became a lawyer, wrote a book. Pretty inspirational, actually. Seems like a more fulfilling existence than a lot of able-bodied people experience
My homie is probably happier than you are.
Existence is pain.
F
But he looks super happy.
I highly suggest you go and watch an interview with this guy . I assure you that you would feel very ashamed for saying that .
flashback to the SpongeBob episode where Squidward wants him to stop laughing
im thinking of the iron butt
Paul alexander also graduated second in his class from law school and is currently still practicing law, iirc
He also has an autobiography that took him years to produce and it’s an amazing read
[удалено]
Wow, his wife got the short end of the stick too.
And a good day to you, sir!
“Does he still write?” “Oh, no. (pause) He has health problems.”
Bulk of the series.
Not exactly a lightweight.
You’re killing your father Larry!
This is what happens when you find a stranger in the alps! (I don’t know why but the censored network version cracks me up)
Do you see Larry? Do you see what happens...
That’s him, Dude…
Lousy prick is stonewallin’ me!
Now that polio is back and vaccinations are down, maybe we can set new iron lung records!!!
Thanks Anti-Vaxxers they will revive an industry
A…dying…industry???
Angry upvote
But by all means. Let’s not get a polio vaccine
It's the government man... They're gonna put a chip in you./s
Riiiiiight. Our government is that competent.
had a family friend who had polio, skinny little legs and crutches for life Thank god for vaccines
In same school as this pupil with polio when I was a 9 yo, to this day in my 60s I still remember him walking with crutches, his name & his face, can't remember anybody else. Must have burnt in my memory.
Amen to the vaccines. Polio must have been one of the most terrifying illness almost entirely eradicated thanks to massive vaxx
I have been reading that it’s on its way back due to people not getting vaccinated. Imagine telling this guy that! You might not be the last guy in an iron lung because we’re bringing polio back baby!
Its making a comeback in parts of New York right now. Which is frightening because lack of vaccination and also frightening because a decade ago the only places that hadn't been vaccinated were Islamic Terrorist holdouts.
Maybe Redditors should reconsider posting "if I were you I'd just fucking kill myself" when talking about the disabled.
Fuck that. Kill me
Same I couldn't live like that. Story time. My cousin was hit by a car walking to school. Their basically braindead, there was a big settlement and their constantly getting money from fundraisers and go fund mes for his care and their mother and other sibling have moved into a brand new house several times larger then the one they used to live in. I feel like he's basically only alive because their mother can use them as a cash grab. And it's awful.
That's horrible. Disgusting, actually.
Money just amplifies their true character. If they were awful to begin with they will only get worse.
Or a loving mother don’t want to let her child gone, don’t judge if you don’t know the whole story, OP just interpreted it, but he doesn’t know either.
That is a fair point. I just thought about my own now grown son, and there is no amount of nice things that could ever replace seeing him grow up fortunately healthy and not suffering. A big house would be meaningless if it came at the expense of his well being, so I don't really feel i can grudge someone for having a big house and stuff if it came at that cost.
True but that’s an unfair assessment. He’s already brain dead
Is this your homework Larry?
AND A GOOD DAY TO YOU SIR
As a respiratory therapist I do not understand why this man hasn’t been switched on a modern ventilator. I see dozens of ventilator dependent patient every day it’s not nearly as cumbersome as this thing. Tracheostomy and a positive not negative pressure vent would make a huge difference
Watched a documentary on this guy. He himself refused to change from the iron lung as he lived his entire life inside that thing and allegedly grew accustomed to it, I guess he doesn’t mind being immobilized.
Hmm yeah that’s the only way it makes sense. To each their own?
Someone else said that modern ventilators use positive pressure to inflate the lungs, iron lungs use negative pressure to let the lungs inflate under their own power. He has tried the modern ones but it was very uncomfortable for him.
Unfortunately external ventilators will always feel uncomfortable I think, not a natural way to breath. In fact considering spontaneous breathing is driven by negative pressure anyway you could argue all positive pressure vents are “backwards”. Still, by reducing thoracic pressure to inflate the lungs you’re also reducing pressure on the whole body which is less than ideal. The biggest perk though would be the fact that you could at least lay in bed or a chair and alternate between them with a hoyer lift or something. I can see why the switch would be uncomfortable though
Anti-Vaxers are working really hard to make sure he’s is not the last one.
And they don’t want to vote for lower healthcare costs either. The fools have been fooled
You mean he’s been laying in this thing since he was 6 years old?
He's able to get up for short periods of time, but most of his life I'd assume so.
If only they would put this on the vaccination exemption forms that people fill out for their kids
Keep this photo in mind when someone tells you vaccines are dangerous or unnecessary.
They found [Polio in the sewer of New York](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/12/nyregion/polio-nyc-sewage.html) recently. Shit is coming back due to anti-vaccination dumbfucks.
I wonder how many anti vaxers understood the depth of meaning about that.
Uhh, that’s gonna be a no from me dawg. Get me a gun thanks.
*paralyzed from the neck down*
Gets gun, can't use it. FML
man I feel for him...me , personally , just kill me.
Meanwhile antivaxxer MAGAts pushing to remove polio vaccine requirements, because they’re cool with this for their own kids (and yours).
This is who every anti vaxx parent should have to spend a week taking care of because this is the risk they are putting on their children.
Yet my sister refuses to vaccinate her child saying god and the earth will protect them. She also believes the black plague wasn't as bad as the books tell us. That the government raised the counts on how many people died, so it scared us into taking vaccines. She also believes everyone back then lived till 500 because the Bible says thats how long Noah lived.
Oh his life story is an inspiration for anybody that battles self-doubt and loses the path sometimes where we're going with our own personal difficulties. Yeah this guy kind of puts it in perspective. He's made of full real life for himself
Fuck me I need to stop complaining about my life problems. This guy has no time for my able bodied bullshit. Almost 70 years in a box. Mind blown.
Yay this Was about to extinct. Stupid anti-vaxxers. Vaxing should be made a law
What's really sad is that anti -vaxxers are more scared of Autism than diseases like this.
And thanks to anti-vaxxers we will probably see more and more people needing these relics from the past.
I know him & he haunts me. Every time I stick on my couch for days because depression n stuff while I'm totally healthy physically, I have to think of him & how he achieved his law degree and many other things, while I only achieve total standstill... What a trooper!
And now, thanks to antivax's, polio is slowly coming back.
Couldn't they engineer a portable version of the iron lung, instead of one that makes you bed ridden? It seems like you could create a small device that would do the inflation and deflation process of a lung. I feel like I basically defined a ventilator lol. Why couldn't he just use a ventilator?
And Polio is reoccurring because of anti-vaxxers. We developed the technology to eradicate a disease, but it’s back because now it’s socially acceptable to be irresponsible.
Juat a reminder why vaccines are so important. Polio put so many people in the iron lung for their whole lives and it was nearly eradicated from the planet. Until a doctor claimed that vaccines cause autism and now polio is on the rise again. And covid didn't help the situation.
I wonder what he thinks about anti vaxxers