Random Heartbreaking Facts About Joseph Merrick, The Elephant Man (12 items)

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  (#12) For Decades, People Referred To Him By The Wrong Name

  The stage version of The Elephant Man, which was written by Bernard Pomerance in 1977, features the main character of a deformed, "elephant" man whose biography closely mirrors that of Merrick. The major difference between the two is that the protagonist in the play is named John. Why the discrepancy? Because Frederick Teves, a prominent London doctor who first saw Merrick on display, recorded his name as John in his memoir. And the incorrect name stuck, even making its way into popular culture portrayals of Merrick well past his death. 
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  (#10) His Physical Deformities Caused Him To Sustain Other Injuries

  Given that Joseph Merrick's enlarged features were caused by swelling and bone masses growing in unexpected places, it became extremely difficult for Joseph to perform even the most basic maneuvers because of the heft of his limbs. When he was just a child, he fell and suffered a significant hip injury, which rendered him lame for the rest of his life. Merrick's inability to perform basic bodily maneuvers is also the thing that would lead to his death, as the weight of his head caused his neck to eventually snap. 
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  (#9) He Died Wanting To Be Like Everybody Else

  Joseph Merrick was discovered dead on April 11, 1890 - at the age of 27 - in his home at the London Hospital. Merrick had to sleep in an upright position with his head - swollen to 3 feet in circumference - resting on his knee, so that the weight would not asphyxiate him as he rested. But that spring morning, it appeared he had deviated from his routine, with his friend and doctor Frederick Treves suggesting that he just tried to lay down "like everybody else," a process which tragically snapped his spinal cord, killing him instantly.
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  (#2) He Had Three Siblings Who All Died Remarkably Young

  For Joseph and Mary Jane Merrick, creating a family proved to be a doomed endeavor. Joseph Carey was the first of three of the children born into the family who would die at young ages. His brother William Arthur, was born in January of 1866 and died from scarlet fever in December of 1870 at just four years old. His sister, Marion Eliza, was born in September of 1867, also with physical disabilities - though less severe than those of Joseph himself - and she died of Myelitis-related seizures in 1891.
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  (#7) He Was Robbed Of His Life Savings

  Though he was paid and treated relatively well in the freak show circuit, Joseph Merrick's professional life would prove short-lived. By the mid-1880s, human oddity exhibits had fallen out of favor with the English public, so Merrick's manager brought him to Belgium in hopes of attracting a larger audience. But Merrick's manager turned on him shortly into the tour, severely beating him and stealing his life savings, before abandoning him in a foreign land. Penniless and destitute, Merrick had to return to England on his own. 
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  (#1) He Was Born A Healthy Child

  Joseph Carey Merrick was born to Joseph and Mary Jane Merrick on August 5, 1862 in Leicester England. For the first five years of his life, Joseph was a happy and healthy little boy, completely unaware of the horrific disfigurement that was to come.

  It was around the age of five that patches of discolored, lumpy skin began to appear on his body, which his parents actually thought were the result of Mary Jane being scared by a stampeding elephant while she was pregnant. Merrick was able to have a relatively normal childhood and attend school, though his condition worsened significantly as he got older. 

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