Everything That Glitters
Lauren Wasser was diagnosed with Toxic Shock Syndrome and placed in a medically induced coma with a 1% chance of life. Lauren awakened with her right leg removed a week and a half later. Because of the pain, she eventually chose to amputate her left leg as well. Lauren did not give up on her modeling goals, and she has since successfully branded herself as the “girl with the golden legs.”
The Human Tree
Dede Koswara, commonly known as Tree Man, worked for a touring freak show as a half-man/half-tree. When Dede was ten years old, he damaged his knee, and warts began to form around the injury. He couldn’t afford medical treatment and even tried to remove the wart himself. Dede’s warts multiplied and spread across his body. The craftsman was later determined to have Epidermodysplasia Verruciformis (EV), a disorder that causes HPV to spread throughout the body.