Known As The Elephant Man, He Became A Freak Show Performer In 1884 To Earn A Living After Being Born With A Disorder That Enlarged His Head And Limbs
Born with a disorder that enlarged his head and limbs, Joseph Merrick used his disfigurement to earn a living as a freak show performer known as “The Elephant Man.” To this day, medical experts still don’t understand what caused his condition since DNA tests of his bones and hair have been inconclusive.
Joseph Carey Merrick was born in Leicester, England in 1862. At around the age of five, his appearance began to change. His lips swelled up; his pink skin turned a ghastly gray.
A large lump grew on his forehead, and another protruded from the back of his neck. Both feet increased in size, and his right arm became twisted and gnarled. His left arm remained normal.
With medical experts at a loss, Merrick’s mother came up with her own explanation, telling him that his deformities had developed due to an incident at a fair that occurred while she was pregnant with him.
A crowd of people had shoved her into the path of an animal parade. An elephant reared up, and she was trapped underfoot for a brief time.
When he was 11 years old, his mother died of pneumonia. He quit going to school soon after, unable to bear both the bullying from kids and the loss of his mother.
Eighteen months later, his father remarried another woman who was the spitting image of a wicked stepmother from a Disney princess movie. The stepmother demanded that he get a job and bring home some money if he was no longer attending school.
So, at the age of 13, he worked at a shop rolling cigars for three years. However, his hand deformity worsened, making the job tough to do. When he was 16, he became unemployed and wandered the streets, looking for work.
He tried going door to door, selling goods from his father’s shop, but he had a hard time speaking clearly because of his deformities. Plus, his appearance scared people, and no one wanted to interact with him.
Andres Conema – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only
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One day, his father beat him for his failures, causing Merrick to leave home. His uncle took him in, but after two years, he couldn’t afford to support his nephew. Merrick then found a job at the Leicester Union Workhouse.
For four years, he worked with men between the ages of 16 and 60. He despised the job and eventually came up with the idea of using his looks for a freak show act.
In 1884, Merrick began his new career and was advertised as “half a man, half an elephant.” He performed in Leicester, London, and Nottingham under the management of Sam Torr. Later that same year, he was taken in by Tom Norman, a shop owner in East London who displayed human oddities.
The shop was located across the street from London Hospital, where Dr. Frederick Treves worked. One day, he was driven by curiosity to check out “The Elephant Man.”
He was shocked when he caught sight of Merrick’s disfigured body and asked if he could bring him in for an examination at the hospital. Merrick soon grew tired of being studied for science, but by then, freak shows were dropping in popularity due to concerns about ethicality.
His managers shipped him off to Belgium, hoping that the laws wouldn’t be so strict over there. However, his new manager stole his money upon his arrival in Belgium and abandoned him.
Merrick eventually made his way back to London in 1886, where he drew the attention of crowds. Police detained him and contacted Dr. Treves to pick him up. The doctor brought Merrick back to the hospital and determined that the now 24-year-old suffered from a heart condition. He also declared that Merrick only had a few years left to live.
He spent the last four years of his life happily in the hospital’s care. He even met a woman who didn’t run away screaming at the sight of him. Throughout all his hardships, Merrick remained positive.
On April 11, 1890, he was found dead in his bed at just 27-years-old. He had died from asphyxia and dislocated his neck, trying to sleep while lying down. His skeleton was preserved at the Royal London Hospital.
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