Power failure kills woman in iron lung
Dianne Odell, 61, had been confined to the iron lung – a 7-foot metal tube – since she was stricken by polio at age 3.
Family members were unable to get an emergency generator working after a power failure knocked out electricity to the Odell family's residence near Jackson, northeast of Memphis, brother-in-law Will Beyer said.
"We did everything we could do but we couldn't keep her breathing," Beyer said. "Dianne had gotten a lot weaker over the past several months and she just didn't have the strength to keep going.''
The Madison County Sheriff's office said emergency crews could do little to help. The local power company reported spotty power outages in the area because of a tree that fell on a power line.
Despite deformity from bulbo-spinal polio that stopped her from using a portable machine, Odell earned a high school diploma and wrote a children's book.
Related News
Nearly $1 Trillion in Investments Estimated by 2030 as Power Sector Transitions to a More Decarbonized and Flexible System
SANTA CLARA - Frost & Sullivan's recent analysis, Growth Opportunities in Distributed Energy, Forecast to 2030, finds that the rate of annual investment in distributed energy resources (DER) will increase by 75% by 2030, with the market set for a decade of high growth. Favorable regulations, declining project and technology costs, and high electricity and demand charges are key factors driving investments in DER across the globe. The COVID-19 pandemic will reduce investment levels in the short term, but the market will recover. Throughout the decade, $846 billion will be invested in DER, supported by a further $285 billion that…
