6月26日，美国最后一位依靠铁肺生存的脊髓灰质炎患者玛莎·利拉德（Martha Lillard）在俄克拉荷马州逝世，享年78岁 [1]。其妹辛迪透露，利拉德的死因归结为长期新冠后遗症、慢性肺衰竭以及小儿麻痹症的后遗症 [1]。
利拉德于5岁时确诊脊髓灰质炎，此后一直依赖铁肺维持生命活动 [1]。尽管曾被医生预言无法活过20岁，她凭借顽强意志克服了身体障碍，不仅组建了家庭，还保持了丰富的精神生活 [1]。美国已于1979年宣布消除脊髓灰质炎这一事实背景与其生平经历相关 [1]。
Martha Lillard, the last patient in the United States to rely on an iron lung for breathing due to polio, has died. She passed away on June 26 in Oklahoma at the age of 78 [1]. Her sister, Cindy, stated that her cause of death was a combination of long-term complications from COVID-19, chronic pulmonary failure, and post-polio syndrome [1].
Diagnosed with polio at age five, Lillard depended on an iron lung to survive until the United States declared itself free of the disease in 1979 [1]. Despite being told she would not live past her twenties as a child patient, she overcame physical barriers through sheer will and internet technology [1]. She went on to build a family and maintain a rich spiritual life [1].