The man who spent seven decades in an iron lung opened up about how he became a lawyer in his final TikTok video before his death.
As previously reported, Paul Alexander sadly died at the age of 78. His death was announced on Tuesday (March 12) in an update shared on the GoFundMe page set up to help with his housing and health care.
The page included a message from his brother, expressing gratitude to everyone for donating and supporting his loved one: "I am so [grateful] to everybody who donated to my brother’s fundraiser. It allowed him to live his last few years stress-free.
"It will also pay for his funeral during this difficult time. It is absolutely incredible to read all the comments and know that so many people were inspired by Paul. I am just so grateful," he added.
Paul was six years old when his life drastically changed.
The late man contracted polio during the summer of 1952 and was taken to the hospital by his mom. After arrival, healthcare professionals explained that there was nothing to be done for him.
However, one doctor re-analyzed him and rushed him to the theater to perform "an emergency tracheotomy to suction out the congestion in his lungs," according to The Guardian. Three days later, he woke up to his body being engulfed in a machine.
While he eventually recovered from the infection, the disease left him paralyzed from the neck down and unable to breathe on his own. But he was able to survive thanks to the iron lung, a gigantic metal cylinder that varies air pressure.
The machine had a respirator that "worked by pushing air into the lungs by method of artificial respiration called External Negative Pressure Ventilation (ENPV)," as explained by the Science Museum. "The bellows sucked air out of the box in which the patient was sealed."
Despite being given a second chance at life, Paul had high ambitions and did not want to spend his whole life trapped in a metal coffin so at the age of eight, he came up with a technique that allowed momentary freedom. This method worked by gulping in the air "like a fish" and swallowing it into his lungs.
After a year of perfecting his breathing with physical therapist Mrs Sullivan, he managed 180 seconds of unassisted breathing and was given a puppy, Ginger, for his efforts, per The New York Times.
Paul spent seven decades in the medical machine and was even declared by Guinness World Records in March 2023 the longest-surviving iron lung patient in the world.
He went on to accomplish so much in his personal life, such as becoming the first person to graduate from a Dallas high school without physically attending a class and getting into Southern Methodist University in Dallas - despite repeated rejections by the university administration.
He also studied law at the University of Texas at Austin, and after graduation, he became a lawyer in Dallas and Fort Worth, representing clients in court in a suit and a wheelchair that held his paralyzed body upright.
He spoke about how he was able to defy expectations in his professional career on his TikTok page - which had 400.1K followers - after someone asked him "How did you practice law in an iron lung?"
Watch Paul's TikTok below:
Paul shared that he graduated in 1986 and was "confronted" by "major problems" such as being unable to write and record. So he had to get ahead of class by reading about law and case law.
"I got my mind ready so I listened very carefully and remembered what I heard," he continued. "That was a lot of concentration but yet I found it to be the most effective and rewarding process amongst all of them."
He said he "sat there and listened" and also frog breathed when taking the bar exam because the "iron lung wasn't available and I couldn't make it available so I just breathed - the least laborious of the process."
Upon seeing his final video, many followers flocked to the comment section to express condolences.
One user wrote: "Rest In Peace Sir. You inspired a lot of people. Fly high cos you're finally free." Another said: "May his soul run with angels free of captivity," while a third added: "Rest in peace, Paul. thank you, you inspired so many."
Rest in peace to an inspiration!
