(http://i.l.cnn.net/cnn/2008/US/05/28/iron.lung.death.ap/art.iron.lung2.ap.jpg) | For almost 60 years, Dianne Odell lived inside a 7-foot-long metal tube, unable to breathe outside it but determined not to let it destroy her spirit. 1 of 2 From her 750-pound iron lung, she got a high school diploma, took college courses and wrote a children's book about a "wishing star" named Blinky. "I've had a very good life, filled with love and family and faith," she said in 1994. "You can make life good, or you can make it bad." Odell, 61, died Wednesday when a power failure shut off electricity to the tube and stopped the pump drawing air into her lungs. 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, about 80 miles 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." Read the full story here: http://edition.cnn.com/2008/US/05/28/iron.lung.death.ap/index.html |