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DALLAS -- Paul Alexander, who spent the immense bulk of the past 70 years successful an robust lung and defied expectations by becoming a lawyer and author, died Monday day astatine the property of 78, according to his member Philip Alexander.
His decease was announced Tuesday connected a GoFundMe leafage acceptable up to assistance wage for his lodging and wellness care.
"It is perfectly unthinkable to work each the comments and cognize that truthful galore radical were inspired by Paul. I americium conscionable truthful grateful," Philip said connected the GoFundMe page.
The nonstop origin of Paul's decease is unclear. He was admitted to the infirmary 3 weeks agone owed to a Covid-19 corruption but was nary longer investigating affirmative this week, Philip said.
"Paul, you volition beryllium missed but ever remembered. Thanks for sharing your communicative with us," Christopher Ulmer, organizer of the GoFundMe fundraiser, said connected the page.
Paul developed polio successful the summertime of 1952, astatine the property of 6. It was the tallness of the polio epidemic; much than 21,000 paralytic polio cases were recorded that twelvemonth successful the United States, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Today, polio is considered eliminated successful the United States acknowledgment to vaccines that were developed successful the precocious 1950s, according to the CDC.
The illness near Paul paralyzed from the cervix down and incapable to respire connected his own. He was placed successful an robust lung, a ample metallic cylinder that varies aerial unit to stimulate breathing, according to his autobiography.
"The doctors told america Paul could not perchance live," Doris Alexander, Paul's mother, said successful his autobiography. "There were a fewer times erstwhile the electrical powerfulness failed and past the lung had to beryllium pumped by hand. Our neighbors would tally implicit and assistance america pump it."
Paul spent the adjacent 7 decades successful an robust lung. In March 2023, helium was declared the longest surviving robust lung diligent successful the satellite by the Guinness World Records.
Paul's ambitions were not constricted by his condition. He learned breathing techniques that allowed him to permission the robust lung for a fewer hours astatine a time. He graduated college, earned a instrumentality grade and went connected to signifier arsenic a courtroom lawyer for 30 years.
He besides self-published his autobiography, "Three Minutes for a Dog: My Life successful an Iron Lung," titled aft the accomplishment of learning however to respire independently for astatine slightest 3 minutes - a feat that took him a twelvemonth to maestro and was rewarded with a dog, according to the book.
Paul told CNN successful 2022 that helium was moving connected a 2nd book. He demonstrated his penning process, utilizing a pen attached to a integrative instrumentality held successful his rima to pat keys connected a keyboard.
"I've got immoderate large dreams. I'm not going to judge from anybody their limitations," helium said successful the interview. "My beingness is incredible.
In January, helium acceptable up a "Polio Paul" TikTok account, wherever helium described his beingness accomplishments and answered questions astir beingness successful an robust lung similar "How bash you spell to the bathroom?" and "How bash you enactment truthful positive?" At the clip of his death, helium had 300,000 followers and much than 4.5 cardinal likes.
Paul was besides an advocator for polio vaccination. In his archetypal TikTok video, helium said, "the millions of children not protected against polio. They person to be, earlier there's different epidemic."
(The-CNN-Wire & 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.)
