{"id":758268,"date":"2026-07-12T09:12:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T09:12:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/758268\/"},"modified":"2026-07-12T09:12:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T09:12:08","slug":"polio-survivor-who-was-last-american-iron-lung-user-dies-at-age-78","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/758268\/","title":{"rendered":"Polio survivor who was last American iron lung user dies at age 78"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr Jessica Gray reveals why Americans are living longer<\/a> <\/p>\n

Family medicine physician Dr. Jessica Gray explains that new data shows Americans are living longer, reversing a COVID-era trend. She highlights factors like declining drug overdoses, especially fentanyl, and improved cancer survival rates due to immunotherapy advancements and decreased tobacco use. Gray notes 2025 preliminary data looks even better for U.S. life expectancy.<\/p>\n

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!\n <\/p>\n

A 78-year-old Oklahoma woman who was diagnosed with polio as a child<\/a> and was the last American to rely on an iron lung to live has died.<\/p>\n

Martha Lillard found out she had the once-feared disease when she was 5 years old, which left her paralyzed from the neck down, and required her to use the machine to help her breathe while she slept.<\/p>\n

Lillard contracted COVID-19 twice during the pandemic, which left her in the machine nearly 24 hours a day.<\/p>\n

DEADLY LEGIONNAIRES’ DISEASE OUTBREAK SPARKS CONCERN IN MAJOR US CITY: KNOW THE SYMPTOMS<\/a><\/p>\n

“They told her she wasn’t supposed to live past 20 years old,” her younger sister, Cindy McVey, told The Associated Press on Friday. “She had the enthusiasm and the drive to continue living and make the best of her life.”<\/p>\n

Despite having polio, Lillard was able to go to school two hours a day as a child, and she had tutors the rest of the time. She also used an intercom phone system that allowed her to interact with her teachers and classmates from home.<\/p>\n

\"Martha <\/p>\n

Martha Lillard rests in her iron lung in Shawnee, Oklahoma. (Cindy McVey\/AP Photo, File)<\/p>\n

Lillard was even able to take road trips as a child because of a custom trailer that could accommodate the iron lung and her father making sure their hotels had wide enough doors for the machine.<\/p>\n

EXPERIMENTAL VACCINE SHOWS PROMISE AGAINST DANGEROUS INTESTINAL ILLNESS<\/a><\/p>\n

An iron lung is a negative-pressure ventilator that would help a patient with paralyzed lung muscles breathe.<\/p>\n

\"Iron <\/p>\n

A row of iron lungs is seen inside in a Los Angeles hospital in 1950. (Bettmann Archive)<\/p>\n

The disease once caused thousands of cases of paralysis in children during outbreaks each year in the first part of the 20th century before a vaccine became available<\/a> in 1955.<\/p>\n

By 1979, polio was considered eliminated in the U.S.<\/p>\n

THESE LEAFY GREENS COULD HELP PROTECT YOUR LUNGS, STUDY SUGGESTS<\/a><\/p>\n

Later, Lillard was able to regain the use of her left arm and legs through therapy and was even able to drive for a time.<\/p>\n

She lived independently for many years, even getting married earlier this year<\/a> to a man from Egypt she corresponded with for two decades after he was able to obtain a visa.<\/p>\n

\"Nurse <\/p>\n

A nurse prepares children for a polio vaccine shot as part of a citywide vaccine test on elementary school students. (Bettmann Archive)<\/p>\n

“They were really soul mates,” McVey said. “He’s extremely brokenhearted.”<\/p>\n

Lillard, who wrote poetry and volunteered with the Humane Society, according to her sister, had just 25% lung capacity before she was diagnosed with COVID.<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/a><\/p>\n

She died of chronic pulmonary failure<\/a> and post-polio syndrome, according to her death certificate.<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER<\/a><\/p>\n

Her sister added that it was related to the effects of long-haul COVID<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Associated Press contributed reporting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dr Jessica Gray reveals why Americans are living longer Family medicine physician Dr. Jessica Gray explains that new…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":758269,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[97,312465,149,9779,25,10650],"class_list":["post-758268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-health","tag-health-care-house-of-representatives-politics","tag-lifestyle","tag-rare-diseases","tag-us","tag-vaccines"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/758268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=758268"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/758268\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/758269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=758268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=758268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=758268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}