The world knew him as ‘Polio Paul,’ a man kept alive in an iron lung since 1952, but at his funeral Wednesday, friends revealed a man who they called ‘a force’ whose remarkable life could not be contained by the medical chamber he lived in. Paul Alexander, 78, died a week ago in Dallas, Texas after living in a negative pressure ventilator for 70 years.
Since he was struck with polio as a child, Alexander depended on the machine to survive. At his funeral, Alexander’s brother revealed he would be buried alongside the ashes of his longtime partner and caretaker Kathy Mary Gaines. Gaines died recently after taking care of Alexander for 35 years.
A headstone was prepared with both of their names on it – as well as an etching of Alexander in his infamous lung machine. During some periods of Alexander’s life, he was able to spend short intervals out of the chamber as he eventually learned how to breathe on his own for short times.
At 21, he became the first person to graduate from a high school in Dallas without ever attending class in person. He was accepted into Southern Methodist University in Dallas, after much difficulty with university administration and then got into law school at the University of Texas, Austin.0
He pursued his dreams of becoming a trial lawyer, and represented clients in court in a three-piece suit. Paul practiced law in North Texas for 30 years, known as a fixture in the Dallas County Courthouse where he was regularly seen in the hallways in special wheelchair that could hold him upright since he was paralyzed from the neck down.
A friend and former driver, Daniel Spinx spoke about meeting Alexander after he answered in an ad in the paper for a lawyer who need a driver to take them to court. Among his many clients, Paul represented some Hells Angels, who became so close to him, they made him an honorary member of the motorcycle gang.