Texas man who used an iron lung for decades after contracting polio as a child dies at 78

By JAMIE STENGLE
Associated Press

DALLAS (AP) — A Texas man who spent decades using an iron lung after contracting polio as a child has died at the age of 78. Paul Alexander’s longtime friend Daniel Spinks says he died Monday at a Dallas hospital. Spinks called his friend “one of the bright stars of the world.” Friends of Alexander, who graduated from law school and had a career as an attorney, say he was a man who had a great joy for life. Alexander was 6 when he began using an iron lung, a cylinder that encased his body as the air pressure in the chamber forced air into and out of his lungs.