Paul Alexander, aged 76, has a remarkable life story. He has relied on an iron lung for the majority of his life, and he is among the last individuals in the world still using a respirator from the 1928 era.
Despite his unique situation, he has found fulfillment in life and refuses to settle for anything less. He adamantly rejects any attempt to impose limitations on his life. In his eyes, his life is extraordinary.
At the age of six, Paul entered his family’s residence in a Dallas suburb and informed his mother that he was feeling unwell.
After expressing her concern, his mother followed the doctor’s advice, and Paul spent several days resting in bed.
However, despite their efforts, his condition did not improve, and it became evident that he had contracted polio. Within a week, he lost his ability to swallow, breathe, or grip objects with his hands.
When Paul’s parents arrived at the hospital, they discovered that their son was one of many children experiencing similar symptoms.
After initially being declared deceased by one doctor, Paul was fortunate enough to be given a second chance at life by another physician.
The latter performed an emergency tracheotomy on him and subsequently placed him in an iron lung.
Three days later, upon regaining consciousness, Paul found himself surrounded by rows upon rows of children also confined to iron lungs. He described the scene as full of kids.
Paul spent 18 months recuperating inside the metal enclosure following his initial illness. While some individuals may have lost their will to live in such circumstances, Paul’s determination was only reinforced.
Whenever doctors passed by his iron lung, he overheard them making comments such as “He’s going to die today” or “He shouldn’t be alive.” These statements only fueled Paul’s resolve to prove them wrong.
After being discharged from the hospital in 1954, Paul quickly came to the realization that his life had undergone a fundamental shift as a result of his hospitalization.
During a 2021 video interview, Paul reflected that people did not seem to warm up to him during that time and he perceived that they were uneasy around him.
However, with the assistance of his therapist, Mrs. Sullivan, who visited him twice a week, Paul’s situation began to improve gradually. As an incentive, Mrs. Sullivan promised to purchase a puppy for him if he was able to perform “frog-breathing” for three minutes without the aid of his iron lung. This technique involves flattening the tongue and expanding the neck to trap air in the mouth.
After a year of arduous effort, Paul was able to gradually increase the amount of time he spent outside of the iron lung.
When he turned 21, he accomplished the remarkable feat of earning an honors diploma from a Dallas high school without ever having physically attended classes. Despite receiving multiple rejections, he refused to give up on his dream of attending college and eventually gained admission to Southern Methodist University.
Following his graduation from Southern Methodist University, Paul pursued a legal education at the University of Texas in Austin. He passed the bar exam and went on to practice law in the Dallas-Fort Worth region, where he excelled in his profession.
Even after a 30-year career in the courtroom, he remained busy by authoring a book, which he typed all by himself using a pen attached to a stick. He is currently working on a follow-up novel as well!
Despite being 76 years old, Paul is one of the few individuals who still relies on an iron lung and is confined to it 24 hours a day. However, he attributes his fulfilling life to his refusal to give up. He wanted to achieve what he was told he couldn’t and to pursue the dreams he envisioned.
Paul’s perseverance is truly inspirational and serves as a testament to the idea that the only limitations we face are the ones we place upon ourselves.
Please share Paul’s story with your friends and family to inspire them.