Story By: William McGee, Sub-Editor:  Lee Bullen, Agency: Newsflash

A man who spent the last 51 years living in hospital after contracting polio as a baby has died.

Paulo Henrique Machado passed away at the University of Sao Paulo Faculty of Medicine Clinics Hospital in the Southeast Region of Brazil on 18th November.

The 53-year-old had been living in the medical unit since 1969. He had contracted polio as a baby during Brazil’s polio epidemic between the 1950s and 1970s.

He was hospitalised at the age of 18 months after the condition caused him to lose movement in his legs.

Over time, the condition also affected his respiratory system, and he became dependent on an artificial respirator.

Machado’s upbeat mood and lust for life, despite being bed-bound, led him to being featured in several newspaper and media reports over the course of his life.

He was also active on social media, where he imparted his passion for gaming and comics to his thousands of followers.

Machado did not let his condition hold him back, completing his secondary education while receiving treatment from the hospital’s Orthopaedics and Traumatology Institute.

Born in 1967, Machado never met his mother, who died during childbirth.

When admitted to hospital, doctors told his remaining family members that he would probably not survive past the age of 10.

Beating the odds, and able to move his arms, Machado even created a 3D animation in which he portrayed the routine of a disabled child and his friends in 2009.

The hospital has not revealed the cause of death.

The funeral will take place today (20th November).

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