Paul Alexander, the man with the iron lung, died at 78

At the age of 78, the American died on Tuesday Paul Alexander, known as "the man with the iron lung," and who survived polio.

Against all odds of survival, he managed to become a lawyer and his personal and professional story went around the world and inspired many people to overcome obstacles.

In 1952, at the age of six, he contracted poliomyelitis that left him paralyzed from the neck down, the outlet reports. BBC News.

Also as a result of the disease, he was not able to breathe independently, a fact that forced doctors to place Alexander in a metal cylinder, also called an artificial lung, where he spent the rest of his life.

He artificial lung, which he called the "old iron horse," imitated the physiological action of breathing, but enclosed it up to the neck.

The machine worked with bellows that sucked air from the cylinder forcing his lungs to expand and draw in the air through his nose.

When the air came back in, the same process in reverse caused his lungs to deflate and expel the air by compressing his chest.

After years, Alexander learned to breathe on his own, so he was able to get off the machine for short periods of time.

The development of modern respiratory therapies in addition to the eradication of poliomyelitis in most of the Western world made iron lungs obsolete in the 1960s.

However, Alexander continued to use the cylinder because, he said, he was used to it.

"Paul was an incredible role model who will continue to be remembered," the post says.

Despite his disability, in 1984 he graduated in Law from the University of Texas at Austin, a profession he practiced for decades.

He also wrote numerous books, including his memoirs, which took him eight years to write.

The book of Records Guinness recognized him as the person who lived the longest in an iron lung.