LIFE IN AN IRON LUNG

Once during a library visit about my book BLUE, I picked up my computer mouse to demonstrate an answer to a question about an iron lung. In that moment I realized I needed a model. So I turned to the trusty oatmeal box, a little spray paint, and Barbie.

I usually keep this model packed away and ready to go on author events at a moment’s notice but sometimes I leave it lying about my house.

The first time my granddaughter saw it, she wanted to play with the doll. But I explained that her lungs aren’t working and she has to stay in the machine in order to breathe. I felt really cruel putting the doll in there and even more cruel telling my tender grandchild about the hard realities of polio.

Now whenever she sees it, she wants to know if the girl is well enough to get out yet.

The truth is, many iron lung patients did learn to breathe on their own. But others could not. Recently, a friend called my attention to this news item about a woman who died when an electric storm robbed her iron lung of its power. Back-up measures and the love of family were not enough to save her.

If you would like to know more about life in an iron lung seek out Martha Mason’s book, Breath: Life in the Rhythm of an Iron Lung. You can also buy a DVD of an award winning documentary called Martha In Lattimore.

Copies of MARTHA IN LATTIMORE can be obtained by sending $20.00 (includes shipping and handling) to the director.
Mary Dalton
P.O. Box 2125
Jamestown, NC 27282
Or contact her at dalton@wfu.edu.

Martha is a remarkable woman who had polio in 1948 at age 11 and has been in an iron lung for most of the time since. You will be inspired by her story on either DVD or in her beautifully written memoir.

MARTHA IN LATTIMORE

About 50 miles south of me, in the small town of Lattimore, North Carolina, an iron lung sustains the life of Martha Mason. It has been doing so for 59 years - since Martha contracted polio in 1948 at the age of 11.

When I was doing research for BLUE, I was drawn to anything polio related but did not know about BREATH: LIFE IN THE RHYTHM OF AN IRON LUNG. Martha’s beautifully written memoir found me though, as I browsed, one evening, through Barnes and Noble’s book tables.

There is not enough money or shelf space for all the books I want to own but I did not think twice about purchasing BREATH. I brought it home and devoured it. Martha is a gifted writer and many things about this book touched and informed me.

Then I heard a documentary was being made about Martha’s life. I waited patiently for my opportunity to see it and finally, last week, I emailed Mary Dalton, who directed the film.

Turns out Mary is a truly gracious lady with whom I swapped a series of emails. We worked out an agreement and within days a DVD of MARTHA IN LATTIMORE arrived in my mailbox.

This is a powerful story about an idyllic childhood cut off by grief and polio. But it is about so much more than sadness. It is the story of one woman’s buoyant relationship to her family, her town, and to herself.

And God? Well, naturally a setback like polio and 59 years in an iron lung will bring up a few questions on the subject.

I sometimes feel that America was so broken by polio that when the vaccines came we deliberately chose to forget. But always there have been people like Martha, who could not simply put polio behind them. MARTHA IN LATTIMORE invites America to remember.

It is an invitation to face our collective grief regarding polio. And an opportunity to hold our breath for just a moment as we sit in awe.

Copies of MARTHA IN LATTIMORE can be obtained by sending $20.00 (includes shipping and handling) to
Mary Dalton
P.O. Box 2125 Jamestown, NC 27282
Or contact her at dalton@wfu.edu.