The Elephant Man By: Kara Oakes

Its called Neurofibromatosis Its a bunch of deformities and overgrowths on one side of the body. I

. Tumors begin to appear on your face even at the young age of one year old. You begin to have bulging knots coming out from your head.

Continued… Your feet begin to carry extra skin which will become filled out when it starts to swell underneath. Your back will begin to hunch over as the large tumors and growths take over.

. His name was Joseph Merrick He was born on August 5 th 1862 It all started with his lip swelling up with a tumor. He is known as the Elephant man. He had the worst case of Neurofibromatosis He died at the age of 27 by laying down to go to sleep which he could not do because his head was so big is would crush his wind pipes.

Random Facts They still dont know the cause of Neurofibromatosis but they think it is a genetic disorder that is not curable yet. People would constantly make fun of the Elephant Man which we know was Joseph Marrick. Having this disorder, often makes your skull begin to shape into a weird bulge and grows larger and larger. This is a VERY rare disorder.

My Opinion I think that these people with this awful disorder, just like Joseph Merrick, are just like normal individuals. They may have large bulges of extra skin or whatever the case may be, but I believe that we need to treat them with the same respect we have for everyone else, if not better. All they want to do is be normal so we can encourage them along the way to reach there goal.

Bibliography Wingert, June. (2001). The Elephant Man. Frye, Todd. (2007). Joseph Merrick, The Elephant Man. Ritter, Elise. (2006). Neurofibromatosis. Kugler, Mary. (2006). The Elephant Mans bones reveal mystery. Trull, D. The Elephant Man's Mistaken Identity. Enigma magazine, at Russel, Leonard. (2004). THE ELEPHANT MAN. facts/elephant-man/the-elephant-man.html facts/elephant-man/the-elephant-man.html