Martha Lillard, Last US Polio Patient Using Iron Lung, Dies at 78
[Core Summary] Martha Lillard, the last polio patient in the United States to rely on an iron lung for survival, passed away recently in Oklahoma at the age of 78. Her life spanned the era from the devastating polio epidemics to the near-total eradication of the disease through vaccination. Her death marks the end of an era in medical history. [Event Details] According to the Associated Press, Martha Lillard died peacefully at a medical facility in Oklahoma. She contracted polio as a child, which left her fully paralyzed, and she had depended on an iron lung to breathe since her youth. The iron lung is a negative-pressure ventilator that mechanically assists breathing, and it was one of the most critical life-saving devices during the mid-20th century polio epidemics. ...