One breath at a time(woman sleeps in iron lung)

Pioneer Press ^ | 2-20-05 | TOM MAJESKI

[Rakkasan1]

Reliant on an antiquated machine to breathe, and live, polio sufferer Marilyn Rogers and her iron lung are icons of one of the most frightening times in America's public health system. But she has no regrets.

Marilyn Rogers was destined to dance. The girl with reddish-blond curls used her muscular legs and gift for graceful moves to dance her way into winning a scholarship from the MacPhail music school.

But at 9 years old, the child who couldn't sit still for more than a few seconds developed the early symptoms of polio, the notorious paralyzing disease that was sweeping the nation in the late 1940s. Within three days, Rogers was encased in an iron lung in Minneapolis General Hospital, unable to breathe or move a muscle below her chin.

Today, more than 55 years later, the girl who dreamed of dancing lies motionless on her back in what experts believe is the last traditional iron lung in Minnesota and one of fewer than 40 in the country. She has slept nearly every night in the machine since she was 9 and has lived in it day and night for about the past 10 years.

[Rakkasan1]

the picture slideshow is interesting. can't imagine sleeping in that thing.

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[maine-iac7]

There but for the Grace of God....

puts things in perspective