Iron lung man Paul Alexander dies aged 78 after spending 70 years in a living in a tank

A man who spent seven decades living in an iron lung has died at the age of 78.

Paul Alexander, widely known as Polio Paul, was left paralysed after contracting polio in 1952 when he was six years old.

Paul was rushed to hospital after coming down with a fever and headache after playing outside that summer.

Over the next few days, his health went from bad to worse as the deadly viral disease took hold.

Doctors operated on him to clear the mucus that had filled his lungs because his body was unable to clear it.

The operation saved his life but he would never be able to breathe independently again. He would spend the next 70-odd years inside an iron lung.

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