The polio survivor known as "the man in the iron lung" has died at the age of 78. Paul Alexander contracted polio in 1952 when he was six, leaving him paralysed from the neck down. The disease left him unable to breathe independently, leading doctors to place him in the metal cylinder, where he would spend the rest of his life.
![Paul Alexander: 'Man in the iron lung' dies at the age of 78](https://cdn-ak-scissors.b.st-hatena.com/image/square/2daac55eba5f93ab482719c32e60080cc8052b6e/height=288;version=1;width=512/https%3A%2F%2Fichef.bbci.co.uk%2Fnews%2F1024%2Fbranded_news%2F8430%2Fproduction%2F_132904833_69219225_1667960617285420_r.jpg)