Oklahoma woman Martha Lillard, last US polio patient using iron lung, dead at 78

US News Oklahoma woman Martha Lillard, last US polio patient using iron lung, dead at 78 By Associated Press Published July 11, 2026, 12:15 a.m. ET (function() { var overlay = document.getElementById("nyp-player-lcp-overlay"); if (!overlay) { return; } function hideOverlay() { overlay.remove(); } function afterDCL() { requestAnimationFrame(hideOverlay); } if (document.readyState === "loading") { document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", afterDCL, { once: true }); } else { afterDCL(); } })(); See more of our coverage in your search results. Add The New York Post on Google Martha Lillard had just turned 5 when she was diagnosed with polio and depended on an iron lung to live. She died June 26 in Oklahoma, the last US polio patient who used the machine, her sister said. She was 78.

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