Woman, 78, who was last polio survivor to live in iron lung dies because machine was too old to repair

But that's exactly how Martha Ann Lillard spent the last months of her life before she died aged 78 on June 26, 2026. Lillard ...

Last American to use an iron lung dies at 78 years old after childhood polio diagnosis

Martha Lillard contracted polio at age five and relied on an iron lung to breathe, but COVID-19 left her dependent on the ...
The Washington Post

One woman’s story of agony shows why childhood immunizations are so crucial

Ina Pinkney was only 18 months old when she contracted polio in 1944. In those days, there was such trepidation of the disease that, as Ina told me, children who were hospitalized were kept away from ...