Martha Lillard, last US polio patient using iron lung, has died

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Martha Lillard, the last U.S. polio patient using an iron lung, died at age 78 in Oklahoma on June 26.
She contracted polio at age 5 and relied on an iron lung for breathing, defying early predictions of a short lifespan.
Her death is attributed to long-haul COVID-19, with causes listed as chronic pulmonary failure and post-polio syndrome.
Despite paralysis from the neck down, she lived independently, attended school via intercom, traveled, and even drove.
Lillard married her long-term online partner in February after over 20 years of communication, describing them as soulmates.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, she contracted the virus twice, worsening her lung capacity and confining her to home.
She was artistic, writing poems and songs, volunteering with animal rescue, and composing her own obituary.
Polio was eliminated in the U.S. in 1979 due to vaccines, but Lillard remained dependent on increasingly rare iron lungs.

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