A 78-year-old Oklahoma woman who was diagnosed with polio as a child has passed away. Martha Lillard was the last American to rely on an iron lung to live, due to the debilitating effects of the disease that left her paralyzed from the neck down.
Lillard contracted COVID-19 twice during the pandemic, which left her in the iron lung nearly 24 hours a day. Despite her health struggles, she continued to live an active life, using an intercom phone system to interact with her teachers and classmates from home as a child.
As a child, Lillard was able to go to school two hours a day with the help of tutors, and even took road trips with her family in a custom trailer that accommodated the iron lung. Through therapy, she was able to regain the use of her left arm and legs, and even drove for a time.
Lillard lived independently for many years, marrying earlier this year to a man from Egypt whom she had corresponded with for two decades. Her sister described them as "soul mates," and said her husband is "extremely brokenhearted" by her passing.
Lillard had 25% lung capacity before she was diagnosed with COVID, and died from chronic pulmonary failure and post-polio syndrome. Her sister attributed her death to the effects of long-haul COVID.
