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We did this post a while ago, sharing 7 super weird and/or creepy Wikipedia pages, and I have to tell you…we could do dozens more. I’m going to take a shot with these 6 tonight, all of which left me shook
Soooooo if that’s your bag? We’ve got you. Keep reading.
#6. Gloria Ramirez, “The Toxic Lady”
When Gloria Ramirez came into the emergency room in 1994 complaining of symptoms akin to cervical cancer, no one could have guessed that her visit would end with 23 hospital workers becoming ill. Her skin had an oily sheen that smelled like “fruity garlic” and her blood had an ammonia-like scent to it.
Even with the odd symptoms, no one ever figured out what was wrong with her, or what caused those who touched her to become ill. Gloria passed 30 minutes after arriving in the emergency room of kidney failure.
If you think this story sounds familiar, that’s because several television shows including Grey’s Anatomy, X-Files, Fringe, and Law & Order have all used her case as inspiration for some weird-ass storylines.
#5. June and Jennifer Gibbons
These two were dubbed “The Silent Twins” because, after being bulled by other children for being black, they stopped communicating with anyone except each other. Sounds relatively tame, but the story gets way weirder.
Eventually the twins were separated and sent to different boarding schools in an attempt to ‘socialize’ them, but they both became catatonic. After they were reunited, they published some novels, were arrested for several crimes (including arson), and, finally, were committed to a mental institution where they lived for the next 14 years.
While there, they confided to a journalist that in order for one of them to live a normal life, the other had to die. Jennifer did just that shortly thereafter, for no reason that doctors could determine. June went on to live independently, near her parents in Wales.
#4. The Insatiable Tarrare
Apparently, eating disorders aren’t limited to not eating enough, or to overeating. Because this guy had an insatiable appetite for…just about anything. He could consume large amounts of meat, corks, rocks, and even live animals. According to Wikipedia, he once consumed a meal meant for 15 people in a single sitting.
Tarrare wanted to cure himself of his eating addiction and tried many treatments, from laudanum to wine vinegar to soft-boiled eggs (this all happened in the 1700s, so things were a bit different, medically speaking). Nothing worked, and he grew so hungry on his restricted diets that he resorted to eating corpses from the hospital morgue. After being accused of eating a toddler he was banished from the hospital, ending his professional treatment.
He died years later from tuberculosis.
#3. The Rat King
It’s not what you’re thinking. It’s way, way more gross.
A “rat king” is what happens when a bunch of rats’ tails get stuck together by blood, feces, dirt, or some combination of the three. It’s been spotted as far back as 1594 and is generally considered to be a bad omen. For obvious reason.
It happens to squirrels too, sometimes.
There are pictures, if that’s how you like to spend your time…
#2. Lina Medina, The World’s Youngest Mother
In Peru in 1933, Lina Medina gave birth at the age of 5 years and 7 months (by C-section). She and the boy were raised as brother and sister, and Lina never explained what happened or told anyone who the father of the child was. Sounds fake, but it’s really not.
That is beyond creepy, y’all.
#1. Genie, “The Feral Child”
And, making a bid for saddest story ever, is Genie. She was born in 1957 and suffered severe neglect between the ages of 20 months and 13 years – she basically spent her childhood strapped to either a toilet or a crib. She spent the majority of her time alone and never acquired any language skills before she was recovered by state investigators.
She later spent time in the hospital and then was moved around to several different homes – including that of her biological mother – before being sent to live in a psychiatric institution at the age of 18.
In another horrifying turn of events, she was mistreated in the facility and lost the majority of the social skills she had managed to acquire before then. Her current status and whereabouts are unknown.
