Archynetys Live news trend intelligence
◼ Archived Health 🔮 Archynetys predicts: fades by tomorrow — graded ✓ correct

Last American polio survivor in an iron lung dies at 78

Martha Lillard, the last known U.S. polio survivor dependent on an iron lung, has died at age 78 in Oklahoma.

27sources
27articles
35velocity
+0%since first seen
46d agofirst detected

Evidence dossier

Intelligence passport

83/100 Exceptional
27distinct sources shown
40velocity measurements
1language editions checked
All brief claims passed the second-source checkbrief evidence status

Measured timeline

  1. Detected The first matching coverage entered the Archynetys cluster.
  2. Latest coverage observed Most recent article currently attached to this story cluster.
  3. Peak measured velocity The recorded velocity reached 35.
  4. Evidence threshold reached The story had enough independent coverage for an explanatory brief.
  5. Outcome review added Archynetys revisited the signal after coverage cooled.

Source diversity sample: Springfield News-Sun · Latest news from Azerbaijan · geneonline.com · STAT · The Independent · WMTW · The Guardian · KCRA.

How this dossier is built: methodology · AI policy · corrections.

📍 Where it landed

Martha Lillard, the last known U.S. polio patient using an iron lung, died in Oklahoma at age 78. Her passing marked the end of the last American survivor using an iron lung.

Epilogue added 40d ago, after coverage quieted.

Answered

Who was Martha Lillard?

She was the last known polio survivor in the United States who used an iron lung.

Where did Martha Lillard live?

She lived in Oklahoma, with KOSU reporting she died in Shawnee.

What contributed to her death according to some reports?

Reports from Yahoo and People.com state her iron lung began to break down and there was no one available to repair it.

Where it stands

Martha Lillard, the final American polio patient using an iron lung to survive, has passed away at 78 years old. Lillard lived in Oklahoma and had been diagnosed with polio during her childhood.

Coverage from AP News, CNN, NBC News, and The Guardian emphasizes her status as the last known iron lung user in the United States. Reports from Yahoo and People.com specifically note that the machine began to break down and no one was able to repair it.

Future updates may provide further details via an obituary from the Springfield News-Sun or additional biographical information regarding her life story as highlighted by Cleveland.com.

Synthesized by Archynetys from the headlines below under a strict no-invention contract. ✓ fact-checked: all claims supported by sources Updated 40d ago.

The reporting (27)

Velocity

How fast coverage is spreading — measured hourly from article rate × source diversity. How this works →

Topics

Martha Lillard Polio Iron Lung Oklahoma

Related trends

Open prediction lab

Can you beat the machine?

Pick tomorrow's top trend, then compare your result with Archynetys's self-graded forecast.

Make a prediction →