Last U.S. Polio Patient with an Iron Lung Dies

Tuesday, July 14, 2026

Martha Lillard had just turned 5 when she was diagnosed with polio and depended on an iron lung to live.

Posted by reinheitsgebot at 02:30 PM | 6 COMMENTS | permalink | Comment on This Entry |

Martha Lillard, the last U.S. polio patient using an iron lung, has died at 78 in Oklahoma.

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-- The Associated Press (@apnews.com) 2:00 AM Â· Jul 11, 2026

Comments

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Don't worry there will be more before RFK Jr is done at HHS.

#1 | Posted by qcp at 2026-07-14 02:49 PM | Reply

America needs a resurgence of polio and small pox so people can shut the ---- up about their antivax beliefs.

#2 | Posted by ClownShack at 2026-07-14 02:52 PM | Reply

Why didn't they pump her full of horse paste?

#2 | Posted by reinheitsgebot at 2026-07-12 08:41 AM | Reply | Flag:

Why don't you and your --- Clownshack get in line right over there> for some paste...

It obviously did better than killing 88 million ass bandits...

#3 | Posted by lfthndthrds at 2026-07-14 10:10 PM | Reply

Ever seen someone in an iron lung? I have. A county fair exhibition in the 60's. How macarbe yet facinating.

#4 | Posted by et_al at 2026-07-14 11:35 PM | Reply

As with ZED at #1. Before Jonas Salk - a modest guy it was my honor to meet later with March of Dimes - the iron lung was the symbol of polio's terror. And Zed's right: sheer, unadulterated terror.

#5 | Posted by Doc_Sarvis at 2026-07-15 05:25 AM | Reply

One of my friends suffers from polio and is wheelchair-bound. She didn't get the vaccine in time from her country many, many decades ago. Her feet dangle uselessly and she needs help in and out of places. In fact, I'll be seeing her tonight.

This is NOT her, but close enough:

#6 | Posted by C0RI0LANUS at 2026-07-15 05:46 AM | Reply