Stone Man Syndrome | The Man With a Second Skeleton (Disturbing Disorders)

Harry Eastlack Jr. was born on November 17, 1933 in Philadelphia. When he was four years old, he was hit by a car and broke his left femur.

He was taken to the hospital where his leg was put in a cast, but the fracture never healed properly.
When he was discharged from the hospital, a noticeable bump had formed on the front of his left thigh.

When his cast was removed months later, his leg was swollen and inflamed. Soon it was difficult to move his hips and knees.

In 1938, a year after his fracture, he was diagnosed with what is now known as Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva or FOP, which means "soft connective tissue that progressively turns to bone."

The bone grows outside of the skeleton, so it’s often referred to as growing a second skeleton.

By 1946, Harry’s body was permanently angled in the bowed position, his spine was fused, and the muscles in his upper back were ossified or had turned to bone.

============

https://youtu.be/L7hnHucY8vs
https://youtu.be/9KsVlZCkdq0

https://www.ifopa.org/fop_faq
https://muttermuseum.org/exhibitions/harry-and-carol
https://whyy.org/articles/philly-woman-with-rare-bone-disease-fibrodysplasia-ossificans-progressiva-
donates-skeleton-to-mutter-museum/
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/06/the-mystery-of-the-second-skeleton/309305/
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/what-happens-when-tissue-turns-to-bone-carol-orzel-mutter-museum?loggedin=true
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/100880745/harry-raymond-eastlack
https://horrorhistory.net/2020/11/11/man-with-fibrodysplasia-ossificans-progressiva-dies-of-pneumonia-is-later-displayed-to-help-others-understand-the-condition/
https://www.amusingplanet.com/2021/03/the-disease-that-turns-muscles-into.html
https://www.inquirer.com/health/fop-fibrodysplasia-ossificans-progressiva-mutter-museum-exhibit-philadelphia-20190228.html