The Man Still Breathing Against All Odds After 70 Years in an Iron Lung
Paul Alexander is the longest-living person on a negative-pressure Emerson respirator
With my birthday fast approaching, last week one of my friends living in the U.S., knowing I love personal stories, sent me Paul Alexander’s book, Three Minutes for a Dog: My Life in an Iron Lung, as a birthday gift.
I am currently enjoying my time at the beach, and Paul’s book didn’t seem like light reading material, but I took it with me anyway. Paul’s experience reminds us to be grateful for things, and it reminded me of my times of overcoming adversity.
Can you imagine being trapped all your life inside a metal cocoon, unable to breathe outside a metal cage? I tried to do this while reading the book, and despite being a mindset coach, I couldn’t grasp the level of resilience it would take to spend 70 years laying down in a machine.
Well, Paul’s story is so grappling and inspirational that it only took me a couple of days to finish reading his book and start writing this story.
It was the summer of 1952, a year etched in history. In February, Elizabeth II had become Queen of England, and Eisenhower was about to be elected President of the United States.
