JOSEPH MERRICK, dubbed the "Elephant
Man", is one of the most famous patients in history, not just
on account of his frightful appearance while he was alive,
but also because of the division of opinion amongst the medical establishment
after his death over what disease he had suffered from.
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Joseph
Merrick aka "The Elephant Man"
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Mr. Joseph Merrick, aka the Elephant
Man, was born on August 5th 1862 - a year after the start of American Civil War - in Leicestershire, Great Britain. His mother was slightly crippled but
his brother, was normal. Joseph Merrick's development was
normal until age two when small growths began
to be noticed on his face, the first signs of a frightful disorder
which would transform him into the "Elephant Man".
By the age of seventeen Joseph Merrick, aka the Elephant Man, joined
the British labor force working in a menial capacity at a workhouse
and left it at twenty-one for greater opportunity with freak shows
in 1883. It was here that show promoters dubbed him the "Elephant
Man" and created fantastic stories of his origins to attract the public.
Three years later in 1886 Joseph Merrick was discovered by doctor
Frederick Treves, and through him, eventually gave up life as a sideshow.
Joseph Merrick, aka the Elephant
Man, was admitted to the Royal London Hospital where he died
at twenty-seven of sleep apnea due to the large overgrowth of his
head and surrounding tissues which suffocated him as he slept.
