Josephine Myrtle Corbin was born with a rare birth defect called polymelia, meaning born with extra limbs, in her case, she had 4 legs, 2 normal ones and 2 smaller ones that grew from her hips. But there was more to it. She also had 2 sets of reproductive organs and 2 pelvises. Because of this rare occurrence, she’s probably one of the few people in history considered wonders. Let’s delve into Myrtle’s story and discover her exceptional life milestones.Myrtle was considered a rare and remarkable case of human development.
Josephine Myrtle Corbin, an American sideshow performer, came into the world in 1868 as a remarkable medical rarity. Affected by a condition known as dipygus, she possessed two lower bodies from the waist down. This unusual phenomenon occurred due to her body axis splitting during development, resulting in two separate pelvises side by side. Remarkably, her smaller inner legs were paired with one of her outer legs. While Myrtle could move her inner legs, but they were too weak to walk on.
Born in Tennessee to her parents, William and Nancy, Myrtle’s arrival brought both wonder and concern. At 25, her father, William, and 34-year-old mother, Nancy, welcomed the unique little Myrtle into their lives. Medical professionals noted that if Myrtle had been delivered breech, with her bottom first, it could have been potentially fatal for both her and her mother. Thankfully, Myrtle’s early days were promising, as she displayed signs of strength, weighing 10 lb (4.5kg) just 3 weeks after her birth.
Myrtle’s father was facing financial hardship and had to think of ways to support his growing family.
© Charles Eisenmann (1855-1927) / Wikimedia Commons, © Public domain, © Palette.fm
At the age of 5 weeks, people had the opportunity to visit William Corbin and marvel at his four-legged daughter for a small fee. As the years passed, Myrtle grew up accustomed to the constant stares and astonishment from those who encountered her rare condition. Her inner legs never fully developed, her right foot was clubbed, and both of the smaller legs had 3 toes on each foot.
Over the following decade, William took Myrtle on a journey across the country, where she participated in fairs, sideshows, and dime museums. By the time she turned 14, she had achieved success and managed to secure a lucrative contract paying her an unusually high salary of $250 per week.
The four-legged girl, Myrtle, had a younger sister named Ann, who fortunately did not suffer from any birth defects.
Myrtle married when she was 18 and later became a mother.
© James R. Applegate (1849–1910), Philadelphia / Wikimedia Commons, © Public Domain, © Palette.fm
As Myrtle entered adulthood, she grew weary of the constant attention she received due to her condition. At 18, she decided to marry James Bicknell, a medical student, after which she retired from her performing career. Interestingly, her fame had inspired others to attempt to fake her unique deformity, but all of these impostors were eventually exposed as frauds.
A year into their marriage, Myrtle experienced troubling symptoms like fever, nausea, headaches, and side pains. Concerned, she sought medical attention, and to her disbelief, the doctor revealed that she was pregnant on her left side. Myrtle skeptically responded, saying, “If it had been on my right side, I would come nearer believing you are correct.” The pregnancy proved challenging for her health, and doctors even advised her to consider an abortion due to the severity of her illness. However, Myrtle managed to recover swiftly.
Over the following years, James and Myrtle welcomed seven more children into their family. Tragically, only 5 of them survived infancy, 4 daughters and a son.
© Unknown author / Wikimedia Commons, © Public Domain
The family lived a quiet life until their 5 children reached adulthood. Then Myrtle re-entered the show business. In 1909, when Myrtle was 41, she was a part of Huber’s Museum exhibit, appearing as The Four-Legged Girl from Cleburne, Texas. She often dressed her 4 legs in matching shoes and socks, to the audience’s delight. She was making $450 per week at the time.
In 1928, Myrtle developed a skin infection on her right leg, and the doctor diagnosed her with erysipelas or a strep infection. A week later, on May 6th, 1928, Myrtle passed away. Her casket was covered in concrete, and family members kept watch until it was fully cured to prevent grave robbers from stealing her remains.
Almost a century later, Josephine Myrtle Corbin Bicknell continues to inspire others by proving that even in the 19th century, a woman could forge a successful career and become a mother all at once.
After 10 years, mother returns to the abandoned home where she had left her one-year-old kid and discovers something that makes her cry
Over ten years ago, something terrible happened in Yaroslavl, a Russian City.
One day quite some time ago, a neighbor heard that a baby was crying in a house not far away, but at the time he didn’t think about it a whole lot and went back to his daily life.
In the days that proceeded, he noticed that the baby continued to cry inconsolably, even though no one had seen any signs of life from the house, there were never lights on or any sign of activity at all.
The neighbors really started to worry and called the police to investigate.
When the police got into the house it was derelict and empty, the people who had lived there before had taken all their things, cleared the house, and disappeared.
The only thing that was left in the house was their own little baby, how awful!
The little girl was one year old and they found her on a dirty cold floor all on her own for many days!!
The authorities investigated further and discovered that the baby was called Liza Verbitskaya, although her parents were nowhere to be seen, in fact, no one could find them or knew where they were.
Little Liza was taken to a doctor and she recovered in the hospital for a good number of days to make sure she really was nursed back to health after her ordeal.
While she was in the hospital there was a woman called Inna Nika, she was there looking after her sick son and was there day and night.
One particular day she happened to hear a scream from the hospital room next door and had a look inside the room, out of curiosity and concern, to see what was going on. Little Liza was there in the room and Inna felt a maternal pull toward the little girl.
From that day forth, Inna visited Liza every day and came with clothes, food and toys for her.
Inna was about to visit Liza one day, like every other day, but Liza was not there, she had gone. She found out that the little girl was thought to be strong enough to be released from care at the hospital to an orphanage.
Inna felt so empty and really yearned to be reunited with the little girl again, so much so that she made the decision to go and find her!
When she did find her she felt that there was no doubt in her mind, she wanted to adopt the little girl. Inna began the adoption process as soon as she could and after a lot of paperwork Liza was given permission to live with Inna and her family, where she loved her like one of her own.
When Inna adopted Liza, with the paperwork and delays, she was nearly two. She was so afraid of loud noises she couldn’t chew food! She had been very traumatized…
Inna was more determined than ever to give the little girl the ware and love that she had always needed and her dark times were clearly in the past.
Liza found it difficult to learn to walk, but as she got older Inna joined her with a dance school, she hoped that she would become more comfortable in herself and it would bring her out of her shell.
Exactly why, nobody will be 100% sure, but with all the love and the care she received from her adopted mom, it wasn’t long before Liza bloomed like another girl of her age.
Liza was really dark skinned unlike her siblings and stuck out like a sore thumb, it really was not easy as she began to grow up. Inna always said to her daughter that she should never listen to others as they are easily driven by jealousy.
The now teenage Liza has won several beauty contests, many talents show and worked her first job as a fashion model. Such an amazing contrast to how her life started and how she has succeeded!
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