Last American to Rely on an Iron Lung Dies at 78

Martha Lillard contracted polio as a child and depended on the machine most of her life

Martha Lillard, believed to be the last American still relying on an iron lung, has died at 78, decades after contracting polio as a young child, Fox News reported.

Lillard contracted polio at age 5 and depended on the mechanical respirator to breathe for most of her life, according to Fox News. A bout with COVID-19 left her dependent on the iron lung nearly around the clock in her later years, Fox News reported.

Her death marks the passing of one of the last living links to the era before the polio vaccine's widespread use eliminated the disease in the United States.

— Compiled from reporting by Fox News.