Last American patient living in an iron lung dies at age 78

American Martha Lillard has passed away at the age of 78. She was the last patient in the United States to rely on an "iron lung" machine, after more than 70 years of using it to treat the effects of polio, which she contracted at the age of five in 1953. Despite doctors' expectations that she would not live beyond 20 years old, she continued to live, pursue her education, travel, and lead an independent life, even after her health deteriorated following two bouts with COVID-19. With her passing, a medical era associated with the "iron lung" that helped thousands of polio patients before the advent of vaccines and modern ventilators comes to an end.

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