More than half a century living with artificial lungs

57 years ago, Dianne Odell contracted polio (a viral infection that caused spinal cord inflammation and paralysis). Since then she had to rely entirely on artificial lungs and is now one of about 40 dozen people living in the United States.

Last week she celebrated her 60th birthday and doctors believed she had the opportunity to live her life fully.

Nobody can say that Odell is setting a record for long-lived breathing machines, but she is clearly at the top of this list. Odell does not remember what it was like to go, but she was told about that period. One day in the summer of 1950, she told her mother that she felt uncomfortable about going back to her bedroom.

In the late 1940s, polio became an epidemic in the US with about 20,000 cases. The medical community began to seek treatment and every year, thousands more children became ill. Ms. Geneva Odell also thought that her daughter might be in this tragic situation. 'Children are paralyzed and die almost. It was a period of fear. ' - Geneva Odell, now 82 years old, had to sit in a stroller because of her declining health.

Former US Vice President Al Gore visited Odell in 2001. (Photo: jacksonsun)

The machine sighed 7 feet (2.1 m) and weighed several hundred pounds, becoming a familiar household item like a drinking table or an armchair . In the first time when he was paralyzed, Odell could breathe for a short time and not all day around the machine. Sometimes friends can turn over and take her around in the neighborhood.

However, by the age of 20, she began to stick with the 24-hour machine and had to live like that for nearly 40 years.

Later there were new, more advanced artificial respirators, but because Odell's illness was too severe, she was only allowed to use artificial lungs. But Odell still graduated from high school as a hearing student and then she was granted a scholarship to study psychology at Freed-Hardeman University in Henderson. A cousin followed Odell to help with the lecture and sometimes the class took place in the room at a professor's home where she was brought.

But headaches and other health problems forced her to abandon her dream of having a college degree. A few years later, that university gave her an honorary doctorate. She wrote a book for children with the main character, Blinky, a faded star hoping to be brilliant. She is also the uncle of four grandchildren - the children of two beloved sisters.

Dianne Odell and mother. (Photo: jacksonsun)

Her parents needed help to look after her daughter and the community went to the street to raise money for her. On average each week they need about 1,000 USD to maintain 24/24 support for Odell.

"The government's social assistance program doesn't contribute because Odell is not eligible," said Frank McMeen, chairman of West Tennessee Health Care Foundation. The organization has pledged to help Odell until the end of his life. In 2001, a gala was held with the participation of actors, singers, politicians and charitable people who earned more than $ 100,000. Last Saturday, on the occasion of Odell's 60th birthday, her birthday party also earned about 7 thousand USD. 'She is an angel. Many people want to help her, ' said McMeen.

Dianne Odell is always optimistic. (Photo: jacksonsun)

QA