• He got severe deformities and called as “Elephant Man” out of human curiosity.
• He born normal with no signs of disorder in the first years of life but then at the age of five his skin appeared thick and lumpy, he developed an enlargement of lips, and a bony lump grew on his forehead. He was unable to talk due to facial deformities in the later stages.
• One of his arms and both feet became enlarged and at some point during his childhood he fell and damaged his hip, resulting in permanent lameness.
• When he was 11, his mother died and his father soon remarried.
• He left school at 13, and had difficulty finding employment.
• Rejected by his father and stepmother, he left home. He was almost homeless. In late 1879, aged 17, Merrick entered the Leicester Union Workhouse.
• He was unable to sleep like other people. He always slept sitting up, with his legs drawn up and his head resting on his knees. His enlarged head was too heavy to allow him to sleep lying down and, as Merrick put it, he would risk "waking with a broken neck".
• He was rejected by the society because of his body shape; he was unable to earn money because of this rejection and became a kind of exhibition in his life. This Elephant Man exhibition was moderately successful enabling him to save some money, hoping him to buy his own home.
• Merrick's death, at the age of 27, was ruled accidental and the certified cause of death was asphyxia, caused by the weight of his head as he lay down. Frederick Treves, British surgeon and Merrick’s close friend, concluded that he must have "made the experiment", attempting to sleep lying down, trying to sleep like other people.
Do you still feel that you are not blessed?
You must have to say "Al-hamd-u-Lilah" (Thank you ALLAH) because you are far more blessed...
You must have to learn patience and happiness on whatever ALLAH has given to you.
Source:
Joseph Merrick - Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Merrick)
The True History of the Elephant Man: The Definitive Account of the Tragic and Extraordinary Life of Joseph Carey Merrick
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