Paul Alexander, ‘The Man in the Iron Lung,’ has died at 78

"Paul Alexander contracted polio when he was 6 years old in 1952 and quickly lost the use of most of his body. To survive, he was put into an iron lung, a machine that stimulates breathing in people who have lost the use of their respiratory muscles.

Despite the monumental setback, Alexander went on to go to college, become a lawyer with a successful practice, and even become a published author.

Alexander would live more than 70 years in the iron lung."