Find out the mystery of the Elephant's death

Scientists have discovered the real cause of Joseph Merrick's death, dubbed the Elephant, due to the weight of his oversized big head that crushed his spinal cord.

Joseph Merrick (British) had a rare disease that made his head unusually large. His head is too heavy. So the doctors at that time warned, if he lay down to sleep like a normal person, Mr. Merrick would die from suffocation. Therefore, he always had to sit and sleep, his legs curled up so that his bizarre big head was resting on his knees.

Joseph Merrick, dubbed the Elephant, died from the weight of his crushed head
crushed spinal cord. (Photo: sabtheartist)

So when Mr. Merrick was found dead in bed in 1890, at the age of 27, his doctor - Frederick Treves, an operation specialist at London Hospital - believed that Mr. Merrick died from suffocation. after trying to sleep like a normal person.

But now, scientists have proved that it is the weight of Merrick's oversized head that crushed the spinal cord and caused his death.

Actor John Hurt as the man named Elephant. (Photo: Daily Mail)

In a documentary on Discovery Channel recently, a surgeon of Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia (USA) is Alex Vaccaro said the weight of the head crushed the spinal cord and caused out of Mr. Merrick's extraordinary death. Dr. Vaccaro said that this was the main reason why Mr. Merrick died because Mr. Merrick had very well developed neck muscles and was firm because he had to carry a giant head.

Dr. Vaccaro performed a scans of Mr. Merrick's skeleton, reconstructing its model on a computer and detecting distorted vertebrae. Dr. Vaccaro believes that this is because when Mr. Merrick tried to lie down, his head weighed more than 9kg and fell heavily on the bed, breaking his spinal cord.

Recent research shows that Mr. Merrick has suffered from Proteus Syndrome, a rare disease that causes the skin, bones and muscles to grow excessively.

Mr. Merrick's death made people very sympathetic. And the tragedy of the Elephant has become the subject of a popular movie in 1980. Actor John Hurt has played the character of the Elephant in this film.