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Peg-o the Leg-o aka The Elephant Man

A very very sweet

and warm man, he's known

as Peg-o the Leg-o and also

the Elephant Man, and is one

of the stars of the

999 Eyes Freakshow.

He's got a rare condition

called Neurofibromatosis -

wich causes bumps and

weird growths all over his body

and resulted in the loss of one

leg. He told me-

sitting in the afternoon

cool of Safari Sam's club

in Hollywood prior to a show

that night - that he's been shunned

his whole life by people

presuming his condition

is contagious.

Believing - perhaps

inaccurately - that freakish

folks are accepted more kindly

in Hollywood - where all of

America's black sheep

congregate - he told me that

even here's he's been

shunned and isolated.

Raised in Long Beach,

California - he's now a happy

man, a cherished member

of this 999 Eyes modern

freak show headquartered

in Austin, Texas. He's got

many acres of land and a little

Texas home all his own now

and his once nightmarish

life has been transformed

into one of fun,

celebration and excitement.

And a sense of belonging.

 

You can learn more about

him and his friends

at www.999eyes.com. There

they have a section on him,

and this is what they wrote:

 

"Peg-O the Leg-O" lives

with a genetic condition known as Neurofibro-matosis, or NF for short. He lives with little lumps and bumps all over his body, from the tip of his head to the tops of his toes. Pegleg's story is an inspirational triumph over adversity.

—Born in 1895, inflicted with the genetic disorder NF to the point of having one leg removed, Pegleg traveled the freakshow circuit. He stayed on until 1935 when scientists, whose goal it was to kill the freakshow for social control, stole him from the midway to experiment on and study him to prove that his condition was that of a sick human and not of a Fabulous Freak... because funding for the project was cut they decided to freeze him until more funds could be obtained. The funding never came and Poor Pegleg was forgotten...

— Until one day a kindly showoman snuck into the basement of a medical anomalies laboratory. Her initial goal was to obtain a two-headed baby for her show, but it was there that she then discovered the man frozen. After defrosting Pegleg she set out to help him in his mission of revenge on the scientists who are still trying to destroy the freakshow Museum ov Mutantstrosities by institutionalizing, exploiting and abusing freaks for medical answers and experimentation...

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Uploaded on March 29, 2008
Taken on March 29, 2008