Iron lung man’s brother Paul Alexander pays tribute to brave ‘flirting, pain in the arse’ who ‘loved wine, good food and women’ who died aged 78 after being admitted to hospital last month. | Top Vip News

• Alexander passed away at the age of 78 on March 11 after spending the vast majority of his life in an iron lung after being diagnosed with polio at the age of six.

Paul Alexander, the man who lived most of his life in an iron lung after being diagnosed with polio at age six, was celebrated by his brother as a “flirt” and a “pain in the ass.”

Alexander passed away at the age of 78 on March 11.

His brother, Philip, led the tributes, writing in a heartbreaking Facebook post that Alexander “loved wine, good food and women.”

‘It was an honor to be a part of the life of someone who was as admired as he was. He touched and inspired millions of people and that is no exaggeration,” Philip wrote.

‘To me, Paul was just a brother… just like yours… loving, giving advice and nagging when necessary, and also a pain in the ass… normal brother stuff. He ruled a room… How flirtatious!’

‘He loved good food, wine, women, long conversations and laughing. I will miss him very much,’ she concluded.

Alexander’s cousin also wrote a tribute on Facebook calling him her “true hero.”

“I know you love the freedom of not being in an iron lung,” Margaret Moore wrote.

His life and death have touched many beyond his own family.

‘It’s very sad to hear this. If you don’t know who Paul Alexander is, I recommend you look him up. He was an exceptional person who did not let his circumstances of living in an iron lung stop him from achieving things that most of us can only aspire to. He will continue to be an inspiration. RIP,” wrote one fan on X.

“Sad news, Paul Alexander was an extraordinary man who had a lot to teach us about personal resilience,” wrote another.

‘He and other Iron Lung users are a reminder of the potential lifespan of medical devices and the need to design them for longevity. “His life and his death are an illustration of the importance of vaccines,” he added.

The official Guinness World Records account said it was “saddened” to hear of the death.

German journalist Kai Kupferschmidt, who previously interviewed Alexander, called him an “extraordinary person” who “lived an extraordinary life by any standard.”

Alexander was one of millions of child victims of a once-epidemic disease that threatened the nation and now left him at the mercy of a mechanical ventilator.

Although he could not move from the neck down, he refused to be limited by his metal prison and was successful in both the classroom and the courtroom.

He earned his bachelor’s and law degrees from the University of Texas at Austin. He specialized in bankruptcy law.

“Polio was the horror of the day… It was like the Black Death,” Alexander said in a 2018 interview. Its most famous victim was President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Until 1955, when Jonas Salk became a hero by developing the vaccine that would largely eradicate the disease worldwide, polio reached pandemic levels.

The worst year was 1952, according to PolioToday.org, with nearly 58,000 reported cases that caused 3,100 deaths and left more than 21,000 in various stages of paralysis.

The disease destroys nerve cells in the spinal cord. It spread silently, explained Steve Cochi, senior adviser to the global immunization division at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

For every person who contracts paralytic polio, another 200 may have few or no symptoms.

Disability rights organizer and activist Christopher Ulmer wrote on Alexander’s GoFundMe page on Tuesday: “Paul Alexander, ‘The Man with the Iron Lung,’ passed away yesterday.

‘After surviving polio as a child, he lived for more than 70 years inside an iron lung. During that time, Paul went to college, became a lawyer, and published books.

‘His story traveled far and wide, positively influencing people around the world.

“Paul was an incredible role model who will continue to be remembered.”

Throughout an extraordinary life, Alexander’s determination enabled him to achieve a series of notable achievements.

At age 21, he became the first person to graduate from a high school in Dallas without even attending classes in person.

He was accepted to Southern Methodist University in Dallas, after many difficulties with the university administration, and then entered law school at the University of Texas, Austin.

What is polio?

Polio is an infectious disease that can cause paralysis or even death.

While efforts to produce vaccines effectively ended the epidemic in the Western world in the second half of the 20th century, polio remained one of the deadliest threats to children well into the 1950s.

Polio is spread from person to person by ingesting fecal matter from an infected person or, less commonly, by coughing and sneezing.

Despite advances in sanitation and hygiene practices throughout the 19th century, the number of polio cases in Europe and America skyrocketed in the early 20th century.

In the first stage of contracting the disease, the infection remains in the digestive system and throat. Most babies are able to fight off the disease at this point without it becoming debilitating and develop immunity.

Children who develop the disease later are usually less prepared to fight it without having developed resistance, which can cause polio to enter a second, more aggressive stage, affecting the central nervous system.

Awareness of how diseases spread in unsanitary conditions made great strides in overcoming the cholera and typhoid epidemics, but reduced exposure to the polio virus in youth meant that many children contracted the disease later in their development. , in the 20th century, with horrifying consequences.

Sources: science Museum, National Health Service

He pursued his dream of becoming a trial lawyer and represented clients in court wearing a three-piece suit and a modified wheelchair that kept his paralyzed body upright.

He also organized a sit-in for disability rights and published his own memoirs, titled ‘Three Minutes for a Dog: My Life in an Iron Lung.’

The 155-page memoir was carefully drafted and took five years to complete; Paul wrote each word with a pen attached to a stick in his mouth.

Paul outlived his parents, his brother, and even his original iron lung, which began leaking air in 2015 but was repaired by a mechanic, Brady Richards, following a YouTube video of Paul asking for help.

The ventilator, a large yellow metal box, requires patients to lie inside it, with the device securely fastened around their neck.

It works by creating a vacuum to mechanically draw oxygen into the lungs of patients whose central nervous system and respiratory function were affected by polio.

While in the hospital, doctors tried to get Paul to breathe on his own, turning off the machine and forcing him outside, but it wasn’t long until he turned blue and passed out.

Despite the availability of more modern ventilators, Paul decided to continue using the iron lung machine because he was used to it.

Other devices also require intensive surgery.

Throughout his life, Alexander never let the device get in the way of what he wanted to accomplish: traveling on airplanes, living independently, praying in church, visiting the ocean, and falling in love.

While in college, Alexander met Claire, to whom he later became engaged. He spoke candidly to The Guardian about how his mother forbade him from speaking to her daughter.

“It took me years to recover from that,” he told the outlet.

Alexander later built a close relationship with Kathy Gaines, who became his caregiver, or “arms and legs,” in his words.

Gaines stepped in to help after Alexander graduated from law school and supported him for more than three decades.

Alexander said the couple “grew up together,” Gaines herself being legally blind from type 1 diabetes.