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The Last Iron Lung Survivor | Durham News
Martha Lillard, the last known person in the U.S. to rely on an iron lung, passed away at 78 after a life of extraordinary resilience. Diagnosed with polio at age five and told she wouldn’t live past 20, she defied the odds, earning a high school diploma through an intercom system and even regaining mobility to cook her own meals. Though her death certificate cites chronic pulmonary failure and post-polio syndrome, her sister believes long-haul COVID-19 played a key role—she contracted the virus twice, spending nearly 24 hours daily in her iron lung in her final years. Martha married Baha…
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