An iron will to live
It’s all in the attitude. Every life has merit and is worth living. We mourn the loss of this fighter and express appreciation for her loving family. From the Associated Press, May 28:
Memphis, TN – A woman who spent nearly 60 years of her life in an iron lung after being diagnosed with polio as a child died Wednesday after a power failure shut down the machine that kept her breathing, her family said….
Dianne Odell, 61, had been confined to the 7-foot-long machine since she was stricken by polio at 3 years old.
Family members were unable to get an emergency generator working for the iron lung after a power failure knocked out electricity to the Odell family’s residence….
“We did everything we could do but we couldn’t keep her breathing,” said [brother-in-law Will] Beyer, who was called to the home shortly after the power failed. “Dianne had gotten a lot weaker over the past several months and she just didn’t have the strength to keep going.”
Capt. Jerry Elston of the Madison County Sheriff’s Department said emergency crews were called to the scene, but could do little to help.
Odell was afflicted with “bulbo-spinal” polio three years before a polio vaccine was discovered and largely stopped the spread of the crippling childhood disease.
She spent her life in the iron lung, cared for by her parents and other family members. Though confined inside the 750-pound apparatus, Odell managed to get a high school diploma, take college courses and write a children’s book.
The iron lung that she used was a cylindrical chamber with a seal at the neck. She lay on her back in the device with only her head exposed, and made eye contact with visitors using an angled mirror above her head. The lung worked by producing positive and negative pressure on the lungs that caused them to expand and contract so that she could breathe.
Iron lungs were first used to sustain life in 1928, and were largely replaced by positive-pressure airway ventilators in the late 1950s. A spinal deformity from the polio made it impossible for Odell to wear a more modern, portable breathing apparatus, so she continued to use the older machine….
Odell was determined to live a full life – she earned a diploma from Jackson High School as a home-bound student and an honorary degree from Freed-Hardeman College. A voice-activated computer allowed her to write a children’s book, Less Light, about Blinky, a tiny star who dreams of becoming a wishing star.
In a 2001 interview… she said she wanted to show children, especially those with physical disabilities, that they should never give up.
“It’s amazing what you can accomplish if you see someone do the same thing,” she said.

Rest in Peace, Dianne!
I wonder where the book can be purchased? I did a google search and couldn’t find it anywhere. I would love to read this book…I can only imagine it would be very heartfelt and touching!
Diane Odelle is an inspiration to all!! What a beautiful story about her life…May she rest in peace!
Bethany, I think it’s sold out – there were supposedly 100,000 copies printed.
I tried to find it online to no avail as well. I’ll bet they reprint it.
Bethany,
Open Question
Show me another
To Dianne Odelle, lover of life, and for her family who so lovingly cared for her, you are in our prayers…
“May the angels lead you into Paradise; may the martyrs receive you at your coming and lead you to the holy city of Jerusalem. May a choir of angels receive you and with Lazarus, who was once poor, may you have eternal rest.”
(Text of the Roman Catholic Requiem Mass, as translated from the Latin).
From Yahoo Questions-
Where can I find “Less Light?”
The books are $25.00 each with 100% of the proceeds going to the Dianne
Odell Fund at the West TN Healthcare.
To order the books you can send a check along with a return mailing
address to
WTH Foundation
708 West Forest Ave.
Jackson, TN 38301
Re: Dianne Odell/Blinky, Less Light
We will gladly mail one to you. Thank you and if we can be of other
assistance to you please do not hesitate to contact us.
Freda Smith
West TN Healthcare Foundation
708 West Forest
Jackson, TN 38301
731-660-8770
53 minutes ago
Source(s):
West TN Healthcare Foundation
This is a testament as to why every single abortion is wrong.
God intends for every single life, no matter how difficult, how abused, how convoluted, how rife with difficulty to have meaning.
You see God has planned each one of our lives before he created the universe. We are extremely valable to him. In fact, He says, “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul”?. In other words, every single human being is worth more to God than the entire world and all it contains.
The Bible says that someday the angels will marvel at us.
Thank you, Marykay…and thank you Laura!!
Very interesting!
That’s good, Laura. Strange that Google didn’t turn it up.
Above all, God bless her!
What an amazing woman! God bless her family for caring for her all of these years.
Thank you Laura for getting that information. :)
Amen, HisMan. Amen.
“This is a testament as to why every single abortion is wrong.”
I don’t see the connection. This is not an abortion story at all. This is a story of a difficult, yet remarkable life.
*off topic for a moment*..China is threatening to boycott Sharon Stone’s films and Christan Dior dumped her. They aborted her.
Maybe Sharon will get her Karma for being pro abortion. tee-hee.
Jill, Your comment count is off… says (2) not (17)
Janet, all: I’m having trouble with my software. I can’t even post any new posts. They won’t go live. No one is sorrier than me about this. :(
“This is a testament as to why every single abortion is wrong.”
I don’t see the connection. This is not an abortion story at all. This is a story of a difficult, yet remarkable life.
Posted by: Hal at May 29, 2008 12:03 PM
Hal,
The connection is that people choose to commit abortion because they are afraid of “difficulty” the new life might cause for themselves and others.
Hal,
The connection is that people choose to commit abortion because they are afraid of “difficulty” the new life might cause for themselves and others.
Posted by: truthseeker at May 29, 2008 2:51 PM
Some people do probably choose abortions for those reasons. This story doesn’t show why they would be wrong to do so. This woman was perfectly healthy until the age of three. According to HIsman, God had decided before she was ever born that she should get polio, live in an iron lung, and die when the power went out (“You see God has planned each one of our lives before he created the universe.”)
Ms. Odell lived a very difficult life, and made the most of it. I’m glad she lived, I wish she would have lived longer. I wish she didn’t have it so rough. Her life story, however, doesn’t make me wish the government would ban a woman’s right to have an abortion.
From conception to grave every life is precious. Every. Life. Is. Precious.
Hal: According to HisMan, God had decided before she was ever born that she should get polio, live in an iron lung, and die when the power went out (“You see God has planned each one of our lives before he created the universe.”)
And any all-knowing God would know ahead of time what is to happen, be it getting polio, having the parents decide on an abortion, having a miscarriage, etc.
good point Doug, but all the bad things are done by Satan. You haven’t been paying attention.
Hal, even though you’re mocking us, you’re technically right.
Carla,
From conception to grave every life is precious. Every. Life. Is. Precious.
AMEN!
Double Amen.
Karen at the Families against Planned Parenthood web site is asking for everyone’s special prayers. A 14 year old couple is scheduled to have an abortion at 7 AM tomorrow (Friday) morning. They are being pressured by their parents. Please pray that they change their minds and do not go through with the abortion.
If I were religious, I would pray that they will not be pressured into doing something they do not want to do, whether that is to keep the pregnancy or abort it.
Bethany,
I heart you too!! :)
Janet,
I will be praying.
Thank you Stephanie and Carla. Here’s a link, hopefully they will keep us updated, and possibly consider adoption. http://familiesagainstplannedparenthood.org/blog/2008/0520/protest05/#comments
A power failure?! Don’t they have fail-safe backup measures for machines such as this? And do people in such machines ever come out (while still connected)? It seems to me that to go that long without being bathed would soon lead to infections.
Ms. Odell lived a very difficult life, and made the most of it. I’m glad she lived, I wish she would have lived longer. I wish she didn’t have it so rough. Her life story, however, doesn’t make me wish the government would ban a woman’s right to have an abortion.
Posted by: hal at May 29, 2008 3:07 PM
Hal,
I don’t see this story “changing” your mind. I was just hoping to help you see that just as you said you were glad Diane Odell lived and you wished she could have lived longer. Same wishful sentiments should reside in mother’s who commit abortion. The Odell’s are exceptional example of people who maintained a perspective that even a difficult life is better than death. It would make for a lot fewer abortions if more people (especially abortive mother’s) understood that lesson.
Truthseeker, 12:05, very good thoughts.
Yes Hal, we live in a fallen world and bad things happen to people. If one thinks this life is all there is, I can understand how one would be cynical towards the God we believe in and you reject.
However, the truth is, God could have just chosen to abandon us altogether. Instaed He chose to send His Son to die on the cross while we were yet sinners.
Don’t let the timeline confuse you, God lives in the eteranl realm where the past, present and future don’t exist.
So, while this precious lady had a life of challenge beyond words, it appears that she lived a scuccessful life.
Again, this is why abortion is so wrong, because it steals the potential for one’s life to glorify God, even when lived under terrible circumstances. St. Paul made this very clear when he wrote in Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
“With God, all things are possible.”
Without Godm all things are hopeless.
I am sorry to hear that Diane Odelle passed away. I was the illustrator for her book, Blinky Less-Light. The publisher and I donated our services in hopes that it would give Dianne some financial support after her parents passed away. I am glad to see that it was successful for her and she sold 100,000 copies. I never heard anything more about the project after I submitted the illustrations to the publisher. My prayers go out to the family.