Martha Lillard, Last US Polio Iron Lung Patient, Dies at 78
Martha Lillard, last US polio patient using iron lung, dies at 78 in Oklahoma
Martha Lillard, the final American polio patient reliant on an iron lung, passed away at 78 in Oklahoma. Despite being told she wouldn't survive past 20, she lived a full life, attended school remotely, drove, and even found love online. Her death, attributed to long-haul COVID-19, marks the end of an era for iron lung users in the United States.
They told her she wasn't supposed to live past 20 years old, but she had the enthusiasm and the drive to continue living and make the best of her life.
- MajorTakeaway
Drinking a beer for her, she went to the high school very close by. I'm far too young to remember polio but still remember my grandparents talking about it. They had died of Covid-19 before her.
Something to remember by her is that the determination to live is something that keeps us going.
- odo1242
Her self-created obituary, if anyone’s curious: https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/shawnee-ok/martha...
- yen223
I often think about how nearly everyone in my parent's generation knew someone with polio, but I know nobody from my generation in the world who had polio
- frumiousirc
I'm reminded of the contributions of Naomi Wu. https://archive.org/details/youtube-4VKZTmTP7oY
- toomuchtodo