Layout by: Ana Arlene Almi
Published by: Kyla Shane Recullo
Date Published: July 20, 2026
Time Published: 9:46 AM
SHAWNEE, Oklahoma — The last known American to depend daily on an iron lung, Martha Ann Lillard, passed away on June 26, 2026 at the age of 78 as her sister, Cindy McVey, confirmed that her death was caused by chronic pulmonary failure and post-polio syndrome, exacerbated by long-haul COVID-19 complications.
Lillard’s death marks the conclusion of a significant chapter in mid-century biomedical engineering. She survived for 73 years following her diagnosis inside a mechanical respirator after a childhood bout of polio paralyzed her respiratory system.
At age five, the poliovirus attacked and destroyed some of motor neurons in Lillard’s spinal cord. This infection caused acute paralytic poliomyelitis, permanently cutting off communication between her brain stem and her respiratory muscles. The illness also left her with scoliosis and a paralyzed right arm.
Without sufficient nerve signaling her diaphragm to contract, Lillard relied entirely on the Emerson respirator to breathe. The machine operates on External Negative Pressure Ventilation (ENPV), a process governed by Boyle’s Law.
The airtight metal cylinder encased her body while leaving her head exposed. A motorized bellows pumped air out of the tank to drop the internal pressure, creating a partial vacuum. This vacuum forced ambient air through her nose and mouth to expand her lungs. Reversing the bellows increased the tank pressure, compressing her chest cavity to induce exhalation.
While modern positive-pressure ventilators became standard in the late 1950s, they required invasive airway surgeries. Because of her long-term condition and severe spinal deformity, transitioning to modern positive-pressure ventilation was not considered practical and as a result, Lillard continued using iron lung for the rest of her life.
Living with obsolete machinery presented constant risks. Power grid failures during Oklahoma’s severe storms and tornadoes posed immediate threats to her life because the machine depended on electricity. In her final years, finding replacement parts for the vintage respirator became a critical challenge for her family.
"She had less than 25% lung capacity before contracting COVID-19," McVey said in an interview with the Associated Press. McVey added that Lillard spent nearly 24 hours a day inside the lung during her final two years as her condition worsened.
Lillard contracted polio just two years before Dr. Jonas Salk introduced the inactivated polio vaccine in 1955. Mass immunization campaigns eventually led the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to declare polio eliminated from the United States in 1979.
REFERENCES:
Associated Press. (2026, July 11). Martha Lillard, last US polio patient using iron lung, dies at 78 in Oklahoma. AP News. https://apnews.com/article/iron-lung-last-patient-died-polio-41e5b4da4f4e710344dd0872d7fcf987
CNN Health. (2026, July 12). Martha Lillard, last US polio patient using iron lung, dies at 78 in Oklahoma. CNN. https://edition.cnn.com/2026/07/11/health/polio-survivor-iron-lung-dies
Dunbar, M. (2026, July 13). Martha Lillard, last known US polio survivor using iron lung, dies aged 78. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/12/martha-lillard-last-polio-survivor-iron-lung-death
KOSU News. (2026, July 9). Martha Lillard, last American using iron lung, dies in Shawnee. KOSU. https://www.kosu.org/martha-lillard-iron-lung-dies
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