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shyscyberchamber.com
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FREAKS
:
Hervio Nono |
Date
Added
FEB 2004 |
The skeleton of Harvey Leach - 'Hervio
Nono' as he came to be known - still exists today at University
College, London. It shows the figure of a man who must have
looked a pathetically deformed sight. His legs were no more that
misshapen stumps. His arms too, were gnarled and distorted.
His body, which would appear to have been weak though reasonably well
formed, appeared nonetheless squat. His entire body was, indeed,
so badly proportioned that when he stood upright, his fingertips
touched the ground, wildly exaggerating his tiny lower limbs.
Yet, in his day, Harvey Leach was one of the country's most
outstanding gymnasts and seemed, miraculously, to have acquired
remarkable power and agility despite the hideous deformities. As
an arena horseman, either riding or crouching on the animal's back or
standing on it, few normally proportioned people were his equal.
Unbelievably, he walked and ran with reasonable ease, and he perfected
a breathtaking leap, using both his distorted lower limbs and arms for
propulsion. From sketches made at the time, he is seen to have
had a kindly, bearded face, quite handsome, with large, sanguine eyes.
To illustrate the enormous difficulties he must have faced - and the
enormous courage he must have had to conquer them - the distance
between his left hip and heel was 16 inches, which that between his
right hip and heel was only 9 inches. |
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