Martha Lillard was just 5 years old when she was diagnosed with polio and relied on an iron lung to survive. When she died in Oklahoma on June 26, she was the last American polio patient who used the machine, her sister said. She was 78 years old.“They told him he shouldn’t live past the age of 20,” Lillard’s younger sister, Cindy McVey, said Friday. “She had the drive and enthusiasm to survive and make the best of her life.”McVeigh attributed his sister’s death to the long-term effects of COVID-19.Lillard slept in an iron lung cylinder that covered her body as the air pressure in the chamber forced air in and out of her lungs. As a child, she went to grade school for two hours a day and was tutored the rest of the time. She attended Shawnee High School using the phone system, which allowed her to interact with her teachers and classmates through intercoms in her classrooms.His family went on road trips to Missouri thanks to a custom trailer and his father called hotels to find out if their doors were wide enough to accommodate the machine in which Lillard slept. Lillard was also able to drive for a period of time.Later, the Internet helped Lillard stay informed and learn about all kinds of topics, including polio, which paralyzed him from the neck down. With therapy, Lillard regained partial use of his left arm and the use of his legs.McVey said the Internet also allowed Lillard to meet her future husband from Egypt, with whom she communicated online for more than 20 years. After eventually being able to obtain a visa to travel to Oklahoma, Lillard married Baha Salah in February of this year. “They were really close friends,” McVay said. “He is extremely heartbroken.”(AFP)