Paul Alexander, a Dallas man who’s lived in an iron lung since contracting polio at the age of six, has died at 78, according to a GoFundMe page set up by a friend. An official cause of death was not announced, but Alexander’s TikTok page noted in late February that he’d been hospitalized with covid-19.
“Paul Alexander, ‘The Man in the Iron Lung’, passed away yesterday,” Alexander’s GoFundMe wrote on Tuesday. “After surviving polio as a child, he lived over 70 years inside of an iron lung. In this time Paul went to college, became a lawyer, and a published author. His story traveled wide and far, positively influencing people around the world. Paul was an incredible role model that will continue to be remembered.”
Gizmodo
profiled
Alexander
in
2017,
looking
at
the
difficulties
he
faced
spending
so
many
decades
in
an
iron
lung
while
also
exploring
the
myriad
ways
he
was
able
to
accomplish
his
goals,
like
graduating
from
law
school
at
the
University
of
Texas-Austin
and
writing
his
book
Three
Minutes
For
a
Dog:
My
Life
in
an
Iron
Lung.
“Once you live in an iron lung forever, it seems like, it becomes such a part of your mentality. Like if somebody touches the iron lung—touches it—I can feel that. I can feel the vibration go through the iron lung,” Alexander told Gizmodo at the time.
A
friend
of
Alexander
set
up
a
GoFundMe
page
in
2022
after
he’d
been
“taken
advantage
of
by
people
who
were
supposed
to
care
for
his
best
interests.”
Alexander’s
high
health
care
costs,
combined
with
the
lost
money,
forced
him
to
move
into
a
one-bedroom
apartment
without
a
window,
according
to
the
GoFundMe.
The
crowdfunding
page
raised
over
$140,000
while
he
was
still
alive,
but
has
been
shut
down
in
the
wake
of
his
death.
The
remaining
money
will
help
pay
for
funeral
costs,
according
to
his
brother.
“I’ve got to tell you that it probably changed my whole life,” Alexander said of the GoFundMe donations in a video from November 2022. “You guys are incredible because the things you said to me touched my heart tremendously. I want you to know I appreciate what you’ve done, but I love you even more.”
A Thank You From Paul to the SBSK Community
Alexander had a TikTok page with the handle @ironlungman where he would give updates on what was happening in his world to over 300,000 followers. Alexander would field questions from TikTok users on a range of topics, including how he became a lawyer.
There
were
scammers
who
apparently
were
tried
to
impersonate
Alexander,
according
to
a
TikTok
video
he
posted
in
early
February,
but
through
it
all,
he
was
an
eternal
optimist
often
talking
about
his
faith
in
God
and
the
wonderful
people
who
helped
him
through
online
donations.
“I want to tell you that God has recognized the problems... we care, all of my life and even though I’ve had some times where I struggle to survive, even my life threatened, God has always been there and that is significant because without that I wouldn’t be here,” Alexander said in 2022.
“Now God’s blessed me with some very caring, very loving and very competent people. I’m most thankful for what he’s done and I’m gonna do my best to move on and move to my next challenge in life and see what I can do. But thank you for your comments. And thank you for being there.”
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