Last US iron lung polio patient dies

Martha Lillard, the last known polio survivor in the United States to rely on an iron lung, died on June 26, 2026, in United States — Oklahoma City at age 78. She contracted polio at age five in 1953 and used the iron lung for over 70 years. Her sister Cindy McVey attributed her death to long-haul COVID-19; the death certificate lists chronic pulmonary failure and post-polio syndrome. Lillard lived independently for many years, married Baha Salh in February 2026, and wrote her own obituary. Her death follows that of Alexander Wang, another iron lung patient, in 2024. The CDC declared polio eliminated in the US in 1979.