Martha Lillard, last US iron lung polio survivor, dies at 78
Martha Lillard, believed to be the last polio survivor in the United States to depend on an iron lung, has died at 78 in Oklahoma. Her remarkable life reflected resilience, overcoming decades of paralysis while living independently despite severe physical limitations.
Oklahoma: Martha Lillard, believed to be the last polio survivor in the United States to rely on an iron lung, has died at the age of 78 in Oklahoma.
Lillard, who contracted polio shortly after turning five, died on June 26, according to her younger sister, Cindy McVey.
“They told her she wasn’t supposed to live past 20 years old,” McVey told The Associated Press on Friday. “She had the enthusiasm and the drive to continue living and make the best of her life.”
McVey attributed her sister’s death to the effects of long-haul Covid-19. However, the death certificate listed the causes of death as chronic pulmonary failure and post-polio syndrome, she said.
Lillard relied on an iron lung, a large cylindrical machine that encased her body and used changes in air pressure to help her breathe.
As a child, she attended grade school for two hours a day and was tutored for the rest of the time. She later attended Shawnee High School using a telephone system that allowed her to interact with teachers and classmates through an intercom installed in her classrooms.
Her family even took road trips to Missouri using a custom-built trailer. Her father contacted hotels in advance to ensure their doorways were wide enough to accommodate the iron lung.
Lillard was also able to drive for a period.
“To me, it was just normal,” recalled McVey, 75.
Polio was once among the most feared diseases in the United States, with annual outbreaks causing thousands of cases of paralysis, mainly among children. Vaccines became available in 1955.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a nationwide vaccination campaign reduced annual polio cases to fewer than 100 in the 1960s and fewer than 10 in the 1970s. In 1979, polio was declared eliminated in the US, meaning it was no longer routinely transmitted.
The internet later helped Lillard stay informed about a wide range of subjects, including her illness, which had paralysed her from the neck down. With therapy, she regained partial use of her left arm and her legs. However, she could move her left arm only from side to side at waist level.
Despite her physical limitations, Lillard lived independently for many years and prepared her own meals.
The internet also led her to her future husband. After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, she wanted to learn more about the events. Through an online chat room, she met Baha Salh, an Egyptian man, and remained in contact with him for more than 20 years, McVey said.
Lillard married Salh in February after he was finally able to obtain a visa to travel to Oklahoma.
“They were really soulmates,” McVey said. “He’s extremely brokenhearted.”
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Lillard contracted the virus twice. Before the infections, she had less than 25 per cent lung capacity. During the last five years of her life, she was unable to leave home as breathing became increasingly difficult. For the past two years, she spent nearly 24 hours a day in the iron lung, McVey said.
McVey described her sister as artistic and creative. She wrote poems, composed songs and even wrote her own obituary, which was later posted online by a funeral home.
“She was an avid Beagle lover and assisted in animal rescue as a cross-poster on Facebook,” Lillard wrote in her obituary.
She later updated it to state that she “died of long-haul Covid-19”, while McVey added the date of her death.
In recent years, McVey and Lillard had struggled to find someone who could repair the ageing iron lung.
“But since she’s the last one, we don’t need that anymore,” McVey said through tears.
