America’s last ‘iron lungs’ are still being used by paralysed polio sufferers who spend their lives trapped inside the 50-year-old cramped metal tubes

THESE are some of the last polio sufferers to rely on ageing “iron lung” machines to do their breathing for them.

The deadly virus was once common across the world – including in the UK and US – before a vaccine was introduced.

Most people who were infected did not suffer any symptoms.

But for a small minority – around 1 in 100 – the disease attacked the nervous system causing paralysis.

More than 21,000 people in the US contracted this paralysing form of polio at its peak in 1952 – and some 3,000 died from it.

For these unlucky few, the only route to survival lay in massive metal coffin-like contraptions called iron lungs.

Patients lie down flat inside the devices, which are fastened tight around their necks to create a seal.

The machines then create a vacuum to draw oxygen in and out of the victim’s lungs for them – while they can do nothing but lie still.

For many sufferers the paralysis was temporary – meaning their stay inside the machines lasted only a few weeks.

But for others it was permanent.

Now, after the disease was virtually eradicated in the Western world, this dwindling group of longtime sufferers are the only ones still using the machines.

But with no support from the manufacturers or insurers and spare parts hard to come by, this tiny group have been forced to rely on help from car mechanics and engineers to stay alive, reports.

Paul Alexander, 70, of Dallas, Texas, is one of the tiny group still using the machines – which are now more than 50 years old.

The lawyer – who contracted polio in 1952 when he was just five – has lived with the device for most of his life, even taking it to uni with him.

But he was forced to send out an SOS YouTube video begging for help when his iron lung began to break down in 2015.

Luckily his call was answered by hobbyist mechanic Brady Richards, who runs the Environmental Testing Laboratory.

Paul said: “I looked for years to find someone who knew how to work on iron lungs.

“Brady Richards – it’s a miracle that I found him.”

Martha Ann Lillard found herself in a similar situation.

She is forced to sleep in her machine and lives in fear of a storm sparking a power cut, which could prove fatal.

Martha said she can’t use other types of ventilators because of the inflammation that comes with polio.

But the one she has now is cobbled together with parts from two different iron lung machines and help from a local engineer.

There are less than ten people thought to still be using the archaic machines in the US today.

And if they continue to refuse to switch to more modern equipment, there is little they can do other than rely on the kindness of strangers for their continued survival.

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