Martha Lillard, last US polio patient using iron lung, dies at 78
Martha Lillard, the last known U.S. polio patient to rely on an iron lung, has died at age 78. She lived for decades in the machine after contracting polio as a child, eventually succumbing to complications related to post-polio syndrome and COVID-19.
Why it matters
Her passing marks the end of an era for polio survivors in the United States and highlights the long-term medical challenges faced by those who lived through the pre-vaccine era.
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Straightforward reporting of a biographical event with no political framing.
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