In life there are so many disabled people and although these people might seem different, they are humans just like everyone else and deserve to be treated as such.

We have seen cases of people who were born with rare conditions or genetic mutation, but there are some people were born normally but along the line something happened that changed their lives and one of those people is Paul Alexander.

Paul Alexander still remembers the sound of the screen door slamming on that rainy July day in 1952.

The then-6-year-old had just run inside after playing in the field behind his Dallas home. He was feverish and his neck ached. He walked in barefoot, dragging mud onto the kitchen floor. The door sprang shut behind him. He knew his mom would be mad when she saw the mess, but he was taken aback by the fear in her voice.

“God, please, no,” she said. She knew then polio had come for her son.

1952 was riddled with fear for many parents. It was the worst year for polio in the U.S., with nearly 60,000 cases reported across the country. Some cities shut down popular gathering places—movie theaters, swimming pools, bars, bowling alleys.

The virus most commonly affects children, entering the body through the mouth via tiny particles of contaminated feces or, more rarely, droplets from a sneeze or cough. It can lead to flu-like symptoms and has the potential to invade a person’s spinal cord or brain, causing paralysis and potentially death.

For Alexander, the infection started as body aches and a high fever, but not long after, he lost his ability to walk, swallow, and breathe. Doctors performed a tracheotomy and put him in an iron lung—a sealed tank used to treat polio patients who had trouble breathing on their own. During the epidemic, hospital wards were lined with these respirators.

They stimulate breathing by varying air pressure to compress and depress the chest. Children typically spent a couple weeks in one while recovering from the disease, lying on their backs, unable to do much. But Alexander didn’t get out of his.

Eighteen months after he was admitted, doctors said he could go home, thinking he wouldn’t live much longer. His body was nearly completely paralyzed from the neck down, and he couldn’t breathe outside the iron lung. His family brought him—and the lung—home and had what they thought would be their last Christmas together.

But Alexander is still alive today. He’s 74 and resides in Dallas—and for the second time in his life, living through the outbreak of a virus that he is at a high risk of suffering from. Unlike the polio virus, the coronavirus hasn’t been disproportionately impacting children. Those most at risk of developing a severe case of COVID-19 are adults over 65 and those with underlying medical conditions. Alexander checks both boxes.

Different doctors have tried to find solution to Alex condition but they couldn't get any solution. Alex has been in the machine for over 68 years and his condition has not improved.

Please pray for Alex because there is nothing impossible for God to do.

Thank you for reading. Please share and leave a comment.

https://alcalde.texasexes.org/2020/09/one-of-the-last-people-to-live-in-an-iron-lung-is-a-longhorn/

Wow! It is a gift to be alive and healthy even if not wealthy. I am grateful for life!

Life is a gift from God. Those you think may die early end up living longer than the healthy ones

VeeVeeMyLuv:
In life there are so many disabled people and although these people might seem different, they are humans just like everyone else and deserve to be treated as such.

We have seen cases of people who were born with rare conditions or genetic mutation, but there are some people were born normally but along the line something happened that changed their lives and one of those people is Paul Alexander.

Paul Alexander still remembers the sound of the screen door slamming on that rainy July day in 1952.

The then-6-year-old had just run inside after playing in the field behind his Dallas home. He was feverish and his neck ached. He walked in barefoot, dragging mud onto the kitchen floor. The door sprang shut behind him. He knew his mom would be mad when she saw the mess, but he was taken aback by the fear in her voice.

“God, please, no,” she said. She knew then polio had come for her son.

1952 was riddled with fear for many parents. It was the worst year for polio in the U.S., with nearly 60,000 cases reported across the country. Some cities shut down popular gathering places—movie theaters, swimming pools, bars, bowling alleys.

The virus most commonly affects children, entering the body through the mouth via tiny particles of contaminated feces or, more rarely, droplets from a sneeze or cough. It can lead to flu-like symptoms and has the potential to invade a person’s spinal cord or brain, causing paralysis and potentially death.

For Alexander, the infection started as body aches and a high fever, but not long after, he lost his ability to walk, swallow, and breathe. Doctors performed a tracheotomy and put him in an iron lung—a sealed tank used to treat polio patients who had trouble breathing on their own. During the epidemic, hospital wards were lined with these respirators.

They stimulate breathing by varying air pressure to compress and depress the chest. Children typically spent a couple weeks in one while recovering from the disease, lying on their backs, unable to do much. But Alexander didn’t get out of his.

Eighteen months after he was admitted, doctors said he could go home, thinking he wouldn’t live much longer. His body was nearly completely paralyzed from the neck down, and he couldn’t breathe outside the iron lung. His family brought him—and the lung—home and had what they thought would be their last Christmas together.

But Alexander is still alive today. He’s 74 and resides in Dallas—and for the second time in his life, living through the outbreak of a virus that he is at a high risk of suffering from. Unlike the polio virus, the coronavirus hasn’t been disproportionately impacting children. Those most at risk of developing a severe case of COVID-19 are adults over 65 and those with underlying medical conditions. Alexander checks both boxes.

Different doctors have tried to find solution to Alex condition but they couldn't get any solution. Alex has been in the machine for over 75 years and his condition has not improved.

Please pray for Alex because there is nothing impossible for God to do.

Thank you for reading. Please share and leave a comment.

https://alcalde.texasexes.org/2020/09/one-of-the-last-people-to-live-in-an-iron-lung-is-a-longhorn/

The title says he's been in that stuff for over 72 years.

The body says he got in there at the age of 6 and that's he's 74 now, which means he's been in it for 68 years (74-6). This contradicts the title.

As if the contradiction above wasn't enough, one of the ending paragraphs now says he's been there for over 75 years; another figure entirely different from the two above.

I just took a walk in this cold winter, it's either my brain is frozen or the OP was sleep-typing when he wrote this.

Na wa o ....

etrange:


The title says he's been in that stuff for over 72 years.

The body says he got in there at the age of 6 and that's he's 74 now, which means he's been in it for 68 years (74-6). This contradicts the title.

As if the contradiction above wasn't enough, one of the ending paragraphs now says he's been there for over 75 years; another figure entirely different from the two above.

I just took a walk in this cold winter, it's either my brain is frozen or the OP was sleep-typing when he wrote this.

modified, thanks man for pointing it out.

Lord have mercy, this is not living, he is only existing, I'm sad for him and about to cry, God pls heal him