男子克服万难当律师 6岁患小兒麻痹 终身“住”铁肺桶呼吸
新闻报报看 | 美国一名叫保罗的男子，在6岁时不幸患上小儿麻痹，無法自主呼吸，自此要依靠一个医疗设备“铁肺桶””維生。但他沒有因为身体残障而放弃生活，反而在父母鼓励下追求理想，奋发学习，还克服困难考上大学，并成功完成法学学位，成为一名律师。（主播：梁宝仪、洪欣仪）
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00:00 Some people say that the brave are the firefighters who save fire,
00:04 the doctors who save the injured,
00:06 or the police who are not afraid of danger and are on the front line.
00:09 But who says that those who come against the light are heroes?
00:13 People who are sick,
00:14 they struggle and struggle with fate countless nights,
00:17 and face pain.
00:18 Some even succeeded in defeating the disease with their own willpower.
00:23 Aren't they brave?
00:25 And what I want to share with you is a video
00:28 of an American man who was paralyzed.
00:31 He has lived a 66-year iron-bar life
00:35 and has successfully become a lawyer.
00:38 In 1957, there was a child named Paul.
00:42 He was like many other children,
00:43 living a carefree childhood.
00:46 But the epidemic came and he was 6 years old.
00:49 Unfortunately, he had a smallpox.
00:51 He was paralyzed from the neck down and could not breathe.
00:55 The limited medical equipment at the time
00:57 allowed this 6-year-old boy
01:00 to live on the large medical equipment known as "iron lung"
01:03 to extend his life.
01:05 The principle of this "iron lung"
01:06 is to help patients breathe freely
01:08 through the change of air pressure in the iron barrel.
01:11 It also means that Paul's rest of his life
01:13 will be spent in this giant iron barrel.
01:16 From that day on,
01:17 Paul did nothing but drink water and eat.
01:21 He had to stay in the iron barrel for 24 hours a day,
01:24 and could not move his whole body.
01:26 He could only show his head.
01:28 Because once he left this iron lung,
01:29 Paul would be in danger of death.
01:32 I believe that not many people
01:34 can persist in this iron barrel life.
01:36 But the devil's curse did not defeat him.
01:40 The doctor tried to get Paul to leave the iron lung
01:42 and train to breathe freely for 3 minutes.
01:45 From the beginning, he actually couldn't do it at all.
01:48 But in the end, Paul spent a year
01:51 finally learning to breathe through the mouth.
01:54 This is quite important to him
01:55 because he could leave the iron lung for a few hours
01:58 and sit on a wheelchair.
02:00 It's so easy for us to breathe freely,
02:03 but it's hard for some people.
02:06 This is Paul's "difficult situation".
02:08 He could not hold a pen in his hand,
02:10 so he used his mouth to write with a pen.
02:12 He did not change his behavior,
02:13 but learned to overcome difficulties and study hard.
02:16 In the end, Paul graduated from high school
02:19 with the second best score in the school.
02:20 Finally, he applied for a law degree.
02:22 Although he could not leave the iron barrel,
02:24 he never really went to the classroom to take classes.
02:27 But he still successfully graduated from college at the age of 21
02:30 and became a lawyer.
02:31 He even took a special wheelchair to court
02:34 to realize his lawyer life outside the iron barrel
02:37 and give new meaning to life.
02:39 Now, Paul, who is already 72 years old,
02:42 has been with this iron barrel for 66 years
02:46 and has become the last patient in the world
02:47 who relies on the iron lung to breathe.
02:50 Looking back on his iron barrel life,
02:52 Paul once questioned God,
02:54 "Why?
02:55 Why did he get this disease?"
02:58 But with the encouragement of his parents,
02:59 he began to change his mind.
03:01 Now he doesn't even feel that he is a disabled person,
03:04 but also grateful for everything he has experienced in life,
03:07 even more.
03:08 Paul wants to tell people that
03:10 no matter what you have experienced
03:11 or what difficulties you are facing,
03:13 no one can stop you from doing anything.
03:17 Just do it and work hard.
03:19 Paul proved to the world
03:20 that as long as you make up your mind to do it,
03:22 you can find your own way.
03:24 Now, Paul, who is in the middle of retirement,
03:26 spent five years
03:28 typing on the keyboard with a pen in his mouth,
03:31 and finally published his own biography in 2020.
03:34 It not only records his life journey,
03:37 but also the way of life of children with autism.
03:40 He also called on the world to pay attention to this disease.
03:43 Although he has seen the dark,
03:44 and found the light,
03:45 he doesn't want anyone to experience it.
03:50 (upbeat music)
03:53 (dramatic music)