Martha Lillard had just turned 5 when she was diagnosed with polio and depended on an iron lung to live. She died June 26 in Oklahoma, the last U.S. polio patient who used the machine, her sister said. She was 78.

“They told her she wasn’t supposed to live past 20 years old,” Lillard’s younger sister, Cindy McVey, told The Associated Press on Friday. “She had the enthusiasm and the drive to continue living and make the best of her life.”

McVey attributes her sister’s death to the effects of long-haul COVID-19. A death certificate lists causes as chronic pulmonary failure and post-polio syndrome, McVey said.

Lillard slept in the iron lung cylinder that encased her body as the air pressure in the chamber forced air in and out of her lungs. As a child, she went to grade school for two hours a day and was tutored the rest of the time. She attended Shawnee High School by using a phone system that allowed her to interact with her teachers and classmates through an intercom in her classrooms.

Her family went on road trips to Missouri thanks to a custom trailer and her father calling hotels to find out if they had doors wide enough to accommodate the machine Lillard slept in. Lillard was even able to drive for a time.

“To me, it was just normal,” recalled McVey, 75.

Polio was once one of the nation’s most feared diseases, with annual outbreaks causing thousands of cases of paralysis. The disease primarily affects children.

Vaccines became available starting in 1955. According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a national vaccination campaign cut the annual number of U.S. cases to fewer than 100 in the 1960s and fewer than 10 in the 1970s. In 1979, polio was declared eliminated in the U.S., meaning it was no longer routinely spread.

Later the internet would help Lillard stay informed and learn about all sorts of topics, including her disease, which paralyzed her from the neck down.

With therapy she was able to regain partial use of her left arm and use of her legs. But she could only move her left arm side to side at her waist. Even though she couldn’t reach up, she spent many years living alone and preparing her own meals.

The internet also allowed Lillard to meet her future husband. After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Lillard wanted to understand more about what happened. In a chat room, she met a man in Egypt and communicated with him online for more than 20 years, McVey said.

Lillard married Baha Salh in February after he was finally able to obtain a visa to travel to Oklahoma.

“They were really soulmates,” McVey said. “He’s extremely brokenhearted.”

During the coronavirus pandemic, Lillard got COVID-19 twice. Before getting COVID-19, she had less than 25% lung capacity. The last five years of her life, she wasn’t able to leave home as it became harder to breathe. For the past two years, she was in the iron lung nearly 24 hours a day, McVey said.

McVey described her sister as artistic and creative. She wrote poems and composed songs. She wrote her own obituary, which is now posted online by a funeral home. She described being a Humane Society volunteer. “She was an avid Beagle lover and assisted in animal rescue as a cross poster on Facebook,” Lillard wrote.

She later updated her obituary to say she “died of long-haul Covid 19,” but McVey added the date of her death.

In recent years, McVey and Lillard were desperate to find someone who could fix the iron lung, one of several she had over her lifetime.

“But since she’s the last one, we don’t need that anymore,” McVey said through tears.

PRYOR, Okla. — Through tiny brushstrokes, Traci Rabbit is honoring her hometown, her heritage, and her father.

The professional artist and Cherokee National Treasure is restoring a landmark mural on the Mayes County Courthouse in Pryor — and she’s doing it for free.

“I’m not only doing this for my community — I’m doing this for my family,” Rabbit said.

The mural is the largest work Traci completed alongside her father, famed artist and Cherokee National Treasure Bill Rabbit. The two spent a year hand-painting it in 1999. It stands on a wall between shade trees in front of the Mayes County courthouse.

Traci’s love of art traces back to childhood, watching her father work.

“He was internationally known, but he was so proud to be from Pryor and his art was viewed internationally. You know, from the White House to the Vatican and just all over,” Rabbit said.
Bill Rabbit passed away in 2012. Traci described him as more than a celebrated artist.

“He was an exceptional human being as well as an exceptional parent,” Rabbit said.

Former Pryor Mayor Jimmy Tramel said the mural has been a gathering place for the community for decades.

“This is a landmark for the city of Pryor, there’s no doubt,” Tramel said.

While the mural’s paint has faded over time, Tramel said the mural’s meaning is still vibrant.

“It’s God and Country! It’s Native American! This is the spirit of Oklahoma,” Tramel said.

Traci began the mural restoration in May, working on it in her spare time alongside running Rabbit Gallery and preparing for major national art shows. She even skipped one show to get started. Oklahoma’s wet June has pushed back her timeline, and she is now about 75% finished. She plans to touch up both sides of the mural.

“The hardest part honestly was recreating the people because they were gone, they were gone, so I was working from reference photos. And there were times I would be working down here, and sit under the shade tree and say, ‘OK, Dad, what’s the next step? You’re going to have to help me because it’s gone,’ and without a doubt, I’d take a break and come back and know where to start — so I know he was spiritually helping me out on the other side. I have no doubt,” Rabbit said.

The last element Traci will restore is the original signature that reads — “Bill and Traci 1999.”

Tramel said Bill Rabbit would have been proud to see his daughter carry on their shared work.

“He’d be tickled. That’s the best way to put it — he’d be tickled looking down, saying ‘that’s my daughter,’” Tramel said.

Traci said she feels her father’s presence every time she picks up a brush.

“I just… know he’s proud,” Rabbit said.

Traci’s art is featured in numerous national parks, and she is also honored as a Cherokee National Treasure. She hopes to have the mural complete by spring. You can find the mural at 1 Court Place in Pryor.

Here’s a link to Rabbit Gallery and Studios to learn more about the Rabbit’s story and their work: https://billandtracirabbit.com/.

Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere —

Since the return of EA Sports’ iconic college football game, its release has become a summer rite of passage.

It’s not just because gamers like the game or because players like the game. Since its return post-NIL, players can be themselves in the game. They get a small cut through an NIL agreement, and they can play the game with them and their teammates in it. Plus, EA Sports has made a commitment to making its player ratings as realistic as possible.

For those reasons and a host of others, the game’s popularity has soared far beyond an initial surge over pent-up demand when the game was shelved.

But it isn’t just the stars that get player ratings. Yes, those players get plenty of attention. But now every player that agrees to be in the game is in the game and gets a player rating. For Oklahoma State, that’s more than 70 players that are in the game and have player ratings.

With the game in wide release on Thursday, let’s dive into how each player is ranked.

Every OSU Player’s CFB 27 Player Rating

EA Sports gives every player that is in the game an overall score, which is from 0 to 100. Those scores are based in part on six separate categories that also receive scores — speed, strength, agility, awareness, change of direction, injury and awareness. Those individual scores don’t add up to 100 and other factors go into the overall scores.

Going into the season just two Oklahoma State players have overall player ratings of 90 or better — running back Caleb Hawkins (91) and wide receiver Wyatt Young (90). Quarterback Drew Mestemaker is just outside that percentile at 89. Those scores can change during the season based on a variety of factors, including actual game play.

For now, here is the rating for every OSU player in the College Football 27 game:

RB Caleb Hawkins: 91

WR Wyatt Young: 90

QB Drew Mestemaker: 89

LB Ethan Wesloski: 87

CB Mo Horn: 86

EDGE James Williams: 84

WR Justin Bowick: 83

RB Ayo Adeyi: 82

WR Chris Barnes: 82

WR Miles Coleman: 82

OG Johnny Dickson III: 81

OT Braydon Nelson: 80

TE Donovan Green: 80

LB Isaiah Chisom: 80

WR Israel Polk: 80

FS Christian Bodnar: 79

OG Jacob Sexton: 79

SS Evan Jackson: 78

DT Jerry Lawson: 78

WR Rodney Harris II: 78

EDGE Braylon Rigsby: 77

DT Enai White: 77

DT Fatafehi Vailea II: 77

EDGE Jaleel Johnson: 77

TE Oscar Hammond: 77

DT Saadiq Clements: 77

OT Joseph Hanson: 76

WR Kam Powell: 76

CB LaDainian Fields: 76

EDGE Landon Dean: 76

OG Louie Canepa: 76

FS Mose Phillips III: 76

SS Cameron Epps: 75

RB KD Jones: 75

RB Tre Page III: 75

FS Vincent Holmes: 75

OT Ashton Lepo: 74

EDGE DeSean Brown: 74

DT Dominic Macon: 74

CB Kollin Lewis: 74

EDGE Malik Charles: 74

EDGE Rashod Bradley: 74

EDGE Billy Walton III: 73

EDGE Keviyan Huddleston: 73

SS Quinton Hammonds: 73

K Sam Keltner: 73

CB Trudell Berry: 73

RB William Mason: 73

LB Carl’veon Young: 72

CB Kobi Foreman: 72

LB Tate Romney: 72

LT Shaun Torgeson: 71

WR Terrence Lewis: 71

TE Bodie Boydstun: 70

LB Jack Puckett: 70

LB Trip White: 70

LB Dallas Winner-Johnson: 69

OG Desmond Magiya: 69

WR Jabarie Thornton: 69

P Lachie Pozzobon: 69

CB Marrel Davis III: 69

OG Miguel Chavez: 69

C Tyler Mercer: 69

QB Grant Jordan: 68

C Jakobe Sanders: 68

OT Kai Holec: 68

LB Taurean Davis: 68

SS Braeden Presley: 67

QB Broderick Vehrs: 66

EDGE DJ Jackson Jr.:65

TE Caden Yates: 64

LB Gunnar Wilson: 64

C Isaiah Bowman: 56

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