top of page

Remarkable story of Mr Paul Alexander the Man in the Iron Lungs, and Mini Monsters.

Mr. Paul Alexander - The Man in the Iorn Lungs.


Mr. Paul Alexander is considered as the Man in the Iron Lungs. He is the longest to live in so called Iron Lungs after being victim to Polio at the age of six. He passed away at the age of 78 on March 11,2024 . Considering his condition this is a remarkable achievement, and someone would call it a miracle. As Paul's life story is packed with full of suprises.


Paul Alexander
Wiki - public - Paul in his iorn lung

Mini Monsters


If you do not know about Polio. It is a virus mainly affecting children less than age of five. And one in 200 will get permanent musle paralysis. And these children generally die due to unable to breath, and other problems associated with paralysis, like increased rate of infections etc. Once respiratory muscles are paralyed only way to survive is to fit into an Iorn Lung or a mechanical ventilator. It is a global effort to eradicate polio from the world and still have not succeeded as there are still pockets of these mini monsters hanging around in some third world countries. However, we never come across these as thanks to global vaccination programs of WHO and heard immunity it provides. More than ever we should be thankful to the collective efforts of nations to tackle mini monsters, latest being the covid. Who knows what mini monsters hide in our future, I am sure we will face them with positive attitude, when we consider courage of humans just like Paul.


How Iorn Lung works.


I can remember when we were in primary school we went on a field trip to see a Blacksmith. His workshop was few killometers away, and for a nine year old kid this was a great experience to see things in action. He showed us a bellow, which he used to pump enough wind to his hearth. When I saw Paul's Iron lung it reminded me of a bellow. Which essentially is a rythmically moving giant piston encasing the body. We all have this kind of mechanism pre installed inside of our body, which is chest cavity. And the diaphragm which is at the bottom of this cavity acts as the piston which moves air in and out of lungs. That is exactly what Paul could not do as his diaphgram is also paralyed with all the other muscles below his neck. Hence His piston is just outside the body, as the Iron lung, compared to ours which is inside. Technically it should be called "Iorn diaphragm" than Iorn Lungs, as it does replace only function of his diaphragm not Lungs!


There had been an outbreak of polio in 1950 in America and in Texas in which many children got the disease, including Paul, who almost died in the hospital. However he surivied and he was fitted to this iorn lung at the age of six, once his muslce paralysis kicked in. And his parents Nicholas Alexander, and Dorris, took him home in a Lorry, and he had been living a whole life with his Iorn lungs since then for almost all the 72 of his rest of the years, until his death.


bellow
https://unsplash.com/@asbey

Remarkable Achievements of Mr Paul Alexander.


I can only imagine such a life. Most of us would be devastated. But not Paul. Maybe he is made of different form, from me and you as he had achieved some impossible things througout his 78 year lifespan.


He had graduated from W.W. Samuell Highschool being second in his class and first in the history of the school being to do so, without phisically attending to any class. With obvious reasons he had to be home schooled and memorise everything without taking notes.


Bachlors degree in 1978 University Texas Austin, Juris Doctor 1984 and admitted to the bar in 1986 he had even represented clients in Courts with modified wheelchair.


He even wrote a biography of himself "Three minutes for a Dog: my life in an Iorn Lung" published in 2020 after 8 years spending writing it, dictating and typing by tapping a keybord with a stick in his mouth. Even starting a Tick Tok account in 2024 January and gaining more than 300000 followers at the time of his death. If these are not remarkable achievements for a man who spend all life looking at the celing of his room, I can only compare it to a summit of K2


Death of Paul Alexander.


He was admitted to the hospital in February 2024, and was tested positive for Covid 19. However at his time of death two months later he was negavite for virus. His health had deteriorated during hospital stay until inevitable happened.


Final thoughts on the life of Mr Paul Alexander


Personally for me Mr Alexander is a legened. Just like Achillis of Phthia, hero of the Trojan war. I am sure he had a legion of 300 loyal warriors in his personal battle of life. I have seen him talking, in documenteries in you tube and in TV. Never he talks about any negative thing about being paralysed and unable to walk or even use his hands. I have seen Sc-Fi films where a brain in a jar controlling humans and aleans, except he was just a brain in a head, with the useless body I have seen him drawing using the brush with his mouth. He was cheerful when he started talking about his life and daily routines into the camera, just like any other cheerful grandpa.


Mr Paul Alexander is a brain, a genious, a remarkable human without a body. It makes me wonder about all of others who just complaint. Humans with a body but without a brain and we all can change. His story urges us to take action against all the barriers which we make in our minds. And if you would ask him I am sure he has ton of advice to give for us. There is a saying that "once, I started to worry about not having a bicycle until I saw a man without legs". I can conclude saying once "I started to worry about my life, until I saw Mr Paul Alexander and his remarkable story of Iron Lungs!"


Following is a paragraph from the book What is time? I can compare battles faced by Paul to the battles of a mountenieer in an attempt at K2


https://unsplash.com/@danborn
K2 mountain Pakistan - Karakoram range

Eight thousanders


K2 is one of the 14 eight-thousanders, which is the second highest mountain in the world and second only to Annapurna 1 as the deadliest mountain. One in four people have died in attempts to summit this deadly pyramid in karakoram range in pakistan, which has given the nickname ‘Savage mountain’, not for the faint heart. Each year a few mountaineers attempt at the summit of this deadly beast, and risk their own lives. It is not a simple endeavor even for the experienced as they have to survive harsh conditions and deadly challenges even to have a view of the mountain as it is so far away from human reach. Summiting this mountain is considered a great honor, although even for the most successful they have only a few minutes to spend on top of the world enjoying mesmerizing views, as more time they spend enjoying their success the more they risk as climbing up is only half the journey. 


Death is more common, is honored, but each climber takes a gamble against nature. Sometimes they have to give up on lifelong friends on top of the mountain freezing to death as there is no way to to help without risking their own life. An icefall, a slip of a foot, a change in weather and exhaustion can kill. Yet the hours spent in planning and challenges they face, what drives these brave men and women to conquer their fears? Are rewarded by the time that they spend on the summit.


Biggest mountains are created in the mind.



10 views

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


bottom of page