The Colorado statesman., 1913-01-25
TURNING TO stone
Farmers Trouble Started With
Stiff Neck 16 Years Ago.
With Exception of His Eyes, His
Tongue and Arms From Elbow
Down, He is One Huge
Piece of Bone.

Frank Worden of Colfax, Ia, will
give $1,000 to any surgeon in the
United States who will break his back
with anything short of a sledge ham
mer. Worden was in Omaha a
short time ago and was seen by a
number of physicians, but when he
left the city he carried his thousand
dollars with him.
Worden is an ossified man-the
only real one in the country. He is
also farmer and lives near Colfax,
la. With the exception of his eyes, his
tongue and his arms from the elbow
down, he is one huge piece of bone,
without joint or a hinge of any
kind. His body is as hard as stone.
and as rigid as a piece of steel. Ex-
cept as noted, he cannot move sin
gle muscle of his entire body. All
day and all night he lies straight and
stiff, motionless. He can not laugh;
he can not even smile.
Eighteen years ago Worden was a
farmer living near Colfax. One morn
ing he awoke with stiff neck. There
was no pain, but he could not move
his head as freely as had been his Gus
tom. He paid no attention to it at
first. But the affiiction grew worse,
and he finally consulted the family
physician.
Just little Stiffness" said the
doctor "That'll soon wear off"
But the stiffness did not pass away.
And Worden went back to the doctor.
And this time the doctor found some
thing that puzzled him. While max
ing his examination, he discovered
that Worden had lost practically all
feeling in the neck. And then he
called in another doctor
The second physician was also puz-
zled. Looks like this fellow is turn
ing into a big some said the new
doctor. And then they discovered that,
in fact, Worden was actually turning
to bone. His flesh tissues were hard
ening.
Other physicians and surgeons were
called in. but they were never able
to stop the ravages of the peculiar
| malady.
When Worden felt his jaws becom
ing set, he placed small wedges of
wood between his teeth, and in that
position the lower portion of his face
became rigid. In time the wedges
were removed and the teeth were / 7
about half an inch apart. Through
this aperture he is fed liquid foods
He cannot now masticate, but he can
swallow liquids of any kind that are
put nto his mouth.
Gradually the hardening went Gown
ward, affecting his body, his limbs and
then his feet. Eight years after the
morning when he discovered his stiff
neck Worden's feet and ankles were
as rigid as those of a stone image
Years before that time his legs had
succumbed to the strange disease, and
it vas as impossible to use his hiI
Joints, as it would be for a wooden
Indian to walk.
BY this time, also. the arms were
perfectly rigid, except at the elbow
The wrists, fingers and forearm are
all pliable, although Worden says he
can feel that his hands are getting q
little bit heavier than they were for
merly. This indicates. he says, that
these members have at last become af
fected
Surgeons say there is no regular cir
culation of the blood through Word
ems body, but that this flow has de
generated into simply seepage. In
time it will cease altogether.
Worden lies on his back IL the
time, and he does not get weary. His
body is not sore from its contact with
the bed. There are no bed sores.
as is often the case with chronic bed
| ridden invalids.