For over 68 years, Paul Alexander has lived an incredible life inside an iron lung. In the beginning, he was an ordinary child, playing with his friends, running on green grass, and drawing childish pictures. Unfortunately, for Paul and many other children, the summer of 1952 came, after which his body was forever imprisoned in a metal “prison”.

Despite his difficult fate, Paul finds strength and lives what he considers a happy life, drawing all this from the fact of his existence. In that fateful year, many died in their metal “capsule-prisons,” and all doctors predicted to Paul that he wouldn’t survive even a few weeks, but fortunately, he did. Many who are still alive remember the summer of 1952 as the most terrible nightmare and do not want to experience what they went through then again. That summer seemed like hell had come to earth, as thermometers never dropped below 30 degrees Celsius even at night. But the real threat was poliomyelitis, which raged across the country.

At that time, doctors had not yet found a vaccine for poliomyelitis, and the disease was dangerous because it affected not adults or the elderly, but the most vulnerable little children who had not yet tasted all the joys of life. Every day, hundreds of children did not survive the summer night of 1952… Throughout North America, the following measures were taken to prevent this terrible epidemic: curfews were imposed, visits to all public places, including churches, were restricted, and cars drove around the city spraying streets with insecticides. At that time, it was believed that spraying would help rid the city of mosquitoes, as they were considered carriers of this infection. Unfortunately, this was not the case.

Thus, on one of the hot July days, as Paul remembers, he was playing with toys in the backyard, and a cool rain began to fall, which could not but rejoice, as the temperature outside was over +40 degrees Celsius. And suddenly, out of nowhere, his head started to ache sharply, and his neck began to ache. Paul’s mother, noticing her son’s indisposition, quickly put him to bed, hoping it was just a common cold. The doctor who came to the house determined that it was not a cold, but poliomyelitis.

After being discharged from the hospital, Paul continued his treatment at home, and most of the time, he still spent in his “iron prison.” To alleviate her son’s suffering in some way, Paul’s mother invited Dr. Mrs. Sullivan home. At first, Paul was afraid of her, as the time spent in the hospital had left a strong imprint on his psyche. He thought that if a doctor came to him, then things were very bad, but over time, he realized that Mrs. Sullivan was here to teach him to breathe independently. Thus, he could have the opportunity, albeit briefly, to leave his “iron home.”

Thanks to his resilience and determination to live, Paul did not neglect his physical training and continued to train his lungs. This eventually allowed him to leave the capsule for a few hours. So time passed, Paul trained his body, and most importantly, he did not abandon his schooling and successfully completed it through home education.

After receiving higher education, Paul successfully found work as a lawyer. To attend court hearings, he used a special chair for transportation. He began to lead a fairly active lifestyle. In addition to his work, he attended church every Sunday and loved to go to the ocean, watching and listening to the waves crash.

Paul is very quick-tempered by nature, as is typical of any lawyer, but quickly forgiving and charming. All this helped Paul to experience all the joys of this world. For a long time, he fought for the rights of people with disabilities because, like no one else, he understood all the difficulties of their lives. Unfortunately, in recent years, Paul’s health has deteriorated significantly and failed him.

Yes, perhaps all this looks ridiculous and funny to someone, but Paul is used to going to the end, and no obstacles stop him.

After all, he is one of the few who managed to survive at a time when the disease claimed thousands of lives. And working lying in a capsule, stylus in his mouth, seems like a trivial matter to him. As for his personal life, it never really worked out for him. Although when he talks about his caregiver Katie, who has been looking after him for several years, his eyes light up, but he denies everything.