Martha Lillard, the last American citizen who used an iron lung to help her breathe after contracting polio as a child, died on June 26 in Oklahoma at the age of 78.

Martha Lillard 是最後一名在童年染上小兒麻痺後，依靠鐵肺協助呼吸的美國公民，她於 6 月 26 日在奧克拉荷馬州去世，享年 78 歲。

Martha's medical problems began at age five when she contracted polio, which caused paralysis from the neck down. Because of this, she had to use a negative-pressure ventilator, known as an iron lung, which helped her breathe by changing the air pressure inside a metal chamber. Although doctors originally predicted she would not live past twenty, she achieved many goals through adaptive methods. For example, she received an education through a mix of limited classroom visits and private tutoring, using an intercom system to participate in lessons from home. Furthermore, her family helped her travel by using custom transport and checking if hotels were accessible.

Martha 的醫療問題始於五歲時染上小兒麻痺，導致頸部以下癱瘓。因此，她必須使用一種被稱為「鐵肺」的負壓呼吸機，透過改變金屬腔室內的氣壓來協助她呼吸。儘管醫生最初預測她無法活過二十歲，但她透過適應方法實現了許多目標。例如，她透過有限的課堂訪問與私人補習接受教育，並使用對講系統在家中參與課程。此外，她的家人透過使用特製交通工具並確認酒店是否具備無障礙設施來幫助她旅行。

Later in life, medical treatments allowed her to regain some movement in her left arm and legs, which even enabled her to drive a car for a short time. In recent years, digital communication allowed her to maintain a twenty-year relationship with a man from Egypt. Consequently, they were married in February of this year after he received a visa.

在生命後期，醫療治療讓她的左臂和左腿恢復了部分活動能力，甚至使她能在短時間內開車。近年來，數位通訊讓她與一名埃及男子維持了二十年的關係。因此，在對方獲得簽證後，他們於今年二月結婚。

From a medical perspective, Martha's condition represents a time before the polio vaccine was introduced in 1955. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention emphasized that widespread vaccination caused a rapid decline in cases, and the disease was declared gone from the U.S. by 1979. Martha's death follows that of Paul Alexander, another well-known long-term iron lung patient who died two years ago.

從醫學角度來看，Martha 的病情代表了 1955 年小兒麻痺疫苗推出之前的時代。美國疾病控制與預防中心強調，大規模接種疫苗導致病例迅速下降，該疾病於 1979 年被宣布在美國消失。Martha 的去世繼在另一位知名的長期鐵肺患者 Paul Alexander 之後，後者於兩年前去世。

The death of Martha Lillard marks the end of the era of iron lung dependency in the United States.

Martha Lillard 的去世，標誌著美國依賴鐵肺的時代正式結束。