From Active Childhood to Sudden Illness Paul’s life changed forever at age six. Born in 1946, he was an energetic child growing up in a Dallas, Texas suburb. But one summer day in 1952, he came running home, telling his mother he felt unwell. Within days, his condition worsened. He couldn’t breathe, swallow, or even hold a spoon. His parents rushed him to the hospital, where he joined rows of other children suffering from polio—a highly contagious virus that, before vaccines, paralyzed over 15,000 Americans each year. Initially pronounced dead, Paul was given a second chance by a quick-thinking doctor who performed an emergency tracheotomy and placed him in an iron lung. He awoke days later, surrounded by children encased in the same whirring machines, unable to move or speak.
Life Inside the Iron Lung “Is this what death is? Is this a coffin?” Paul recalled asking himself as he adjusted to his new reality. His only means of survival was the iron lung, which created negative pressure to pull air into his lungs. Paul spent the next 18 months in that machine, recovering as best he could in a world that offered few answers and even less compassion. 1952 was the deadliest year for polio in the U.S.—nearly 60,000 cases were reported, with thousands of children dying. Paul wasn’t just lucky to survive; he was determined to thrive. He remembered overhearing nurses say, “He’s going to die today.” Each time, it only fueled his will to live.
