Iron Lung for 60 years

This was beyond my comprehension! I read science fiction and often tell my students that real life is more interesting than fiction. Recently, an article in the obituaries described Marsha Mason and the fact that she survived in an iron lung for 60 years.
Ever since the 1940's, when she was a girl in a small Southern town, Martha Mason dreamed of being a writer. But it was not till nearly half a century later, with the aid of a voice-activated computer, that she could begin setting a memoir down on paper.
Published in 2003, Mason's memoir, Breath is not well-known outside the U. S. Southeast, or perhaps even outside North Carolina, where she was born, grew up and died. It was published by a small regional house, Down Home Press, and was not widely reviewed. But the truly significant thing is that the book was written at all.
Mason died last week at her home in Lattimore, N. C. She was 71 and had lived for more than 60 years in an iron lung.
Mason must have come from money because it would have been impossible to live at home without the finances to support such a situation. It boggles my mind that she survived like this. I have helped care for a number of people who are bid ridden and there are health issues related to resting in one place. How did she manage and for this remarkable length of time?
I will see if it is possible to find a copy of her book.