Paul Alexander (lawyer)

American lawyer and polio survivor (1946–2024)

Paul Richard "Polio Paul" Alexander (January 30, 1946 – March 11, 2024) was an American lawyer, autobiographer and paralytic polio survivor. He was popularly known as one of the last people living in an iron lung. He got sick with polio in 1952 at the age of six.[1][2][3][4] he was born in Dallas, Texas.

He self-published his memoir, Three Minutes for a Dog with Polio, in April 2020. It took him more than eight years to write it.[1]

Alexander has been recognized by Guinness World Records as the person who has spent the longest amount of time living in an iron lung.[5]

Alexander died on March 11, 2024 from COVID-19 at the age of 78.[6]

References change

  1. 1.0 1.1 McRobbie, Linda Rodriguez (2020-05-26). "The man in the iron lung". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2021-01-27.
  2. Buncombe, Andrew (2017-11-22). "America's last iron lung users on their lives spent inside obsolete ventilators". The Independent. Retrieved 2021-01-27.
  3. Casa Editorial El Tiempo (2021-02-11). "Lleva 70 años sin poder moverse y vive gracias a un pulmón de acero". El Tiempo (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-02-13.
  4. Ramirez, Marc (2018-05-25). "Living inside a canister: Dallas polio survivor is one of few people left in U.S. using iron lung". Dallas News. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
  5. "Longest iron lung patient". Guinness World Records. Archived from the original on December 4, 2022. Retrieved December 4, 2022.
  6. "Langer atem". Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin. 12 March 2024. Retrieved 12 March 2024.