Martha Lillard, the last polio survivor in the United States to use an iron lung, has died at age 78 from COVID-19, according to her obituary published in late June 2026.
Lillard, a lifelong resident of Shawnee, Oklahoma, contracted polio in 1953 at the age of five, during the height of the polio epidemic in the United States. The highly infectious disease, caused by the poliovirus and spread through contaminated food, water, or respiratory droplets, primarily affected children under five. At the time, doctors relied on iron lungs—large cylindrical ventilators that enclose a patient's entire body below the neck—to help victims breathe.
Seventy years reliant on the iron lung
Lillard lived more than seven decades depending on the iron lung, even after modern ventilators became widely available. She refused to switch systems, insisting the iron lung was the most comfortable option for her, as reported by KOSU. In a 2021 interview with Radio Diaries, Lillard explained, “I would rather not need it at all. But sometimes when I get in there, I say, ‘Thank you.’ It feels wonderful to get into it. It’s the thing that’s been there that saved my life and I know that it’s the only thing that’s kept me here.”
Before a vaccine was developed in 1955, polio killed tens of thousands of people in the U.S. Survivors often faced paralysis, disfigurement, or lifelong reliance on an iron lung. Lillard recalled waking up with a pain in her neck the day she first contracted polio. “I couldn’t lift my head off the pillow,” she told KFOR. After four days, the young girl fell unconscious. “I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t move my arms or legs. I was paralyzed all over,” she said, noting the iron lung saved her life. She added that doctors “usually didn’t like to put children in because they fought it, but I didn’t. I liked it. It felt good to breathe.”
Learning to live outside the machine
Lillard spent six months in the hospital learning to breathe on her own. Initially, she lived in the iron lung 23 hours a day, with the one hour outside used to rehabilitate her paralyzed limbs. She returned to Shawnee with the iron lung and taught herself to walk again. Her right arm remained paralyzed, but she could partially use her left arm, according to KFOR. By her teenage years, Lillard was able to get in and out of the ventilator by herself. During her healthiest periods, she only used the iron lung to sleep, about nine hours at night, describing it as a respite for her one working lung.
Challenges and legacy
Living with an iron lung presented ongoing challenges. In the mid-1990s, the machine began to break down, and Lillard sought a replacement. She recounted to Radio Diaries an incident during an ice storm when electricity was cut to her home; the generator powering the iron lung died, forcing her to call 911 for help. In the time before her death, Lillard slept in the iron lung for nearly an entire day, KFOR reported.
Lillard is survived by her husband, sister and brother-in-law, and several cousins, nieces, and nephews. A GoFundMe campaign has been established to assist with funeral expenses. Her story stands as a poignant reminder of the devastating impact of polio and the resilience of those who lived with its aftermath.
