Martha Ann Lillard (born June 8, 1948) is an American

polio Poliomyelitis ( ), commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 75% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe ...

survivor who lives in an

iron lung An iron lung is a type of negative pressure ventilator, a medical ventilator, mechanical respirator which encloses most of a person's body and varies the air pressure in the enclosed space to stimulate breathing. It assists breathing when Musc ...

. After Paul Alexander's death, she became the last known person to still live in an iron lung. She contracted polio in 1953, when she was five years old.

Early life and living in the iron lung

Martha Ann Lillard was born on June 8, 1948, in

Shawnee, Oklahoma Shawnee () is a city in and the county seat of Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 29,857 in 2010, a 4.9 percent increase from the figure of 28,692 in 2000. The city is part of the Oklah ...

. She has a sister named Cindy and a brother-in-law named Daryl. Lillard celebrated her fifth birthday on June 8, 1953, with a party at Joyland, an

amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, and events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often fea ...

in Oklahoma. On June 17, 1953, she woke up with a

sore throat Sore throat, also known as throat pain, is pain or irritation of the throat. The majority of sore throats are caused by a virus, for which antibiotics are not helpful. For sore throat caused by bacteria (GAS), treatment with antibiotics may hel ...

and pain in her

neck The neck is the part of the body in many vertebrates that connects the head to the torso. It supports the weight of the head and protects the nerves that transmit sensory and motor information between the brain and the rest of the body. Addition ...

. Her family took her to the hospital, where she was diagnosed with polio. Later, she spent six months in the hospital, placed in a

negative pressure ventilator A negative pressure ventilator (NPV) is a type of mechanical ventilator that stimulates an ill person's breathing by periodically applying negative air pressure to their body to expand and contract the chest cavity.Shneerson, Dr. John M., Newmarket ...

informally called the

, to help her breathe. In the end, she chose to live in the iron lung for the rest of her life. In an

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...

interview in 2012, she said that when she was put in the iron lung, "it was a huge relief". She says of the iron lung that "That's what keeps me healthy. That's what heals me. That's what allows me to breathe the next day." Once, Lillard became trapped in her iron lung when an

ice storm An ice storm, also known as a glaze event or a silver storm, is a type of winter storm characterized by freezing rain. The National Weather Service, U.S. National Weather Service defines an ice storm as a storm which results in the accumulatio ...

came through Oklahoma and her emergency generator failed to start, leaving her trapped in the device without heat. She tried to call

911 911, 9/11 or Nine Eleven may refer to: Dates * AD 911 * 911 BC * September 11 ** The 2001 September 11 attacks on the United States by al-Qaeda, commonly referred to as 9/11 ** 11 de Septiembre, Chilean coup d'état in 1973 that ousted the ...

but failed. She said "It's like being buried alive almost, you know – it's so scary". After the death of Paul Alexander on March 11, 2024, Lillard became the last known person to still live in an iron lung.

Personal life

Lillard spends much of her time alone. She paints, watches old

Hollywood movies The cinema of the United States, primarily associated with major film studios collectively referred to as Hollywood, has significantly influenced the global film industry since the early 20th century. Classical Hollywood cinema, a filmmakin ...

and takes care of her

beagle The Beagle is a small breed of scent hound, similar in appearance to the much larger foxhound. The beagle was developed primarily for hunting rabbit or hare, known as beagling. Possessing a great sense of smell and superior tracking inst ...

s. She sought isolation throughout the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, seeing her relatives in the evenings. She was

homeschooled Homeschooling or home schooling (American English), also known as home education or elective home education (EHE) (British English), is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school. Usually conducted ...

for most of her childhood and unable to participate in most

extracurricular activities An extracurricular activity (ECA) or extra academic activity (EAA) or cultural activity is an activity, performed by students, that falls outside the realm of the normal curriculum of school, college or university education. Although approved ...

, although she still remembers wanting to go camping with her siblings. She could not have children or hold a steady job because of her physical limitations. In a 2021 interview segment about her by

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

, Radio Diaries, and

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, she said she was having trouble finding replacement parts to keep her machine running.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lillard, Martha Living people 1948 births Famous patients Polio survivors People with tetraplegia