Martha Ann Lillard, believed to be the last person in the United States to rely on an iron lung after surviving polio, has died at the age of 78. Lillard died on June 26 in Oklahoma after living with the effects of polio for more than seven decades.
Her sister, Cindy McVey, said long-haul COVID-19 significantly worsened her health. Her death certificate lists chronic pulmonary failure and post-polio syndrome as the causes of death.
Lillard contracted polio shortly after turning five. Doctors reportedly told her family she was unlikely to live beyond the age of 20. Instead, she lived for another 58 years. McVey told the Associated Press, “She had the enthusiasm and the drive to continue living and make the best of her life.”
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Who was Martha Ann Lillard?
Born in Oklahoma, Martha Ann Lillard was diagnosed with polio during the years when the disease was among America’s most feared illnesses. The infection left her paralysed from the neck down and dependent on an iron lung.
An iron lung is a large negative-pressure ventilator that mechanically assisted her breathing while she slept. The machine encloses the majority of a person’s body and stimulates breathing by varying the air pressure inside. When a person’s capacity to regulate their muscles is compromised, or breathing becomes too difficult, it helps them breathe.
To accommodate her needs, her family also traveled with a specially designed trailer that could carry her iron lung on road trips. “To me, it was just normal,” McVey said.
Lillard lived as independently as possible and pursued an education despite her severe physical constraints. She spent two hours a day in elementary school as a child before getting tuition at home. Later, she used a telephone intercom system to communicate with professors and classmates from home while attending Shawnee High School.
She was able to partially restore use of her legs and left arm after receiving intensive therapy. She cooked for herself and lived alone for many years, even though she was still unable to raise her arm.
Lillard wrote poetry, composed songs and volunteered with animal rescue groups. According to the obituary she wrote herself, she was an active supporter of the Humane Society and frequently helped rescue beagles through online volunteer work.
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Martha Ann Lillard’s husband
The internet transformed Lillard’s later years in unexpected ways. Following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, she joined online discussion forums to understand the world events better.
There, she met Egyptian national Baha Salh.
The pair maintained an online relationship for more than 20 years. Salh then obtained a US visa. They married in February, only months before Lillard’s death. McVey described the couple as “soulmates” and said Salh was devastated by her passing.
“He’s extremely brokenhearted,” McVey said.
In recent years, Lillard’s family struggled to find technicians capable of repairing her ageing iron lung because so few remained in operation.
McVey sobbed as she stated, “But since she’s the last one, we don’t need that anymore.”
