However, she did one thing for her children. 1874 12.20, presto, a small town in Newham, London. Mary was born in a poor family with eight brothers and sisters. Just like other poor people at that time, she needed to learn to do housework early, take care of children and relieve stress for her parents.
Although poor, Mary became a nurse by her own efforts. Although this is not a well-paid job, a stable life is many times better than never knowing when she will have enough to eat.
Moreover, although Mary is not a great beauty, she has a dignified temperament. Maybe it's because she is a nurse, saving lives, or she tasted poverty when she was young, treated people sincerely and exuded a kind heart.
1903, she met the other half of her life, Thomas. They got married soon and had four children in her later life.
(Mary when she was young)
It was supposed to be the beginning of a better life, but Mary's life gear began to deviate. About three years after marriage, Mary began to have symptoms of migraine, muscle pain and joint pain.
The doctor didn't understand what happened to her body at that time. Her face gradually twisted, and her soft hands and feminine posture began to disappear.
She changed from a beautiful young woman to a very ugly wife to outsiders. Limited by the technical level at that time, the doctors were at a loss, and Mary was suffering from acromegaly.
This is an endocrine and metabolic disease caused by excessive growth hormone and abnormal hypertrophy of internal organs, accompanied by abnormal physiological function.
At that time, her appearance was an unexpected change for many colleagues, even her husband. Many patients think that Mary is a man from the beginning of appearance, and some patients even show disgust for her and ask for another nurse.
But Mary doesn't mind, because whenever I think of her husband and children, this job is very important. She repeatedly begged the hospital to continue to hire herself so that she could continue to work and earn money to support her family.
(Mary, who continues to be a nurse) However, what happened next pushed Mary to the bottom of her life again. 19 14 years, her husband died.
At this time, the hospital where Mary worked had to fire Mary, because almost no one wanted Mary to take care of herself, and many patients even worried that her illness would infect themselves.
Because of illness, Mary had no choice but to do odd jobs everywhere to take care of the broken family. But the rising debt almost bankrupted the family.
Seeing the children struggling in poverty, Mary decided to give up the last bit of dignity. At that time, the popular watching programs in many areas evolved from the rising circus.
People like to see strange things, are quite curious about the unknown, and are willing to pay for it. On the other hand, Mary decided to take part in a competition called "the hottest woman".
When she appeared, no one believed that the person in front of her would be a woman, which caused a sensation in the venue. Mary won the first prize and won a prize of 50 dollars.
It was a very generous sum of money at that time, but it was a reward for her willingness to be humiliated on the stage. In order to buy food for her children, she abandoned the last trace of self-esteem!
Mary finally became famous because of this competition, and won a lifelong title: "the ugliest woman in the world". Mary suddenly became a local celebrity, and her image even appeared in many media and newspapers, but all of them were marked with the embarrassing sentence: "the ugliest woman in the world."
On the one hand, being laughed at and humiliated, on the other hand, having money to raise children. Mary didn't let herself choose any other way. In fact, she had no choice.
1920, she received a job invitation from Coney Island, USA, called "Dream" Circus. Of course, the content is that Mary needs to put on gorgeous clothes as always, and entertain the audience with her severely deformed appearance under the strong contrast of clothes.
Because the so-called "freak show" was very popular in the United States and Britain at that time, people had a strong curiosity about human beings with unusual signs.
Many circuses will keep looking for these people to join the circus and then tour around the world. It must be said that this was the most successful performance mode at that time, so that such performances emerged one after another, and many circuses scrambled to imitate them.
And Mary, because she has no place in the normal society since she was given that unbearable title, finally decided to become one of them and support the burden of raising children with her ugly appearance.
Mary's contribution to her children and this family is immeasurable. Working in the circus didn't pay off, but it was expensive to take a photo at that time, and the family took a family photo for life.
Mary, the loving mother, wants to leave memories for her children. In the photo, the eldest son is wearing a sailor suit, the youngest son is wearing a suit and the daughters are wearing little skirts. Mary doesn't look right in it!
Mary spent the rest of her life in the circus. Even though she has many dreams, her fate is not something she can choose. Unfortunately, people with this disease rarely live to old age. Mary died in 1933, accompanied by her children, at the age of 59.
But the story about her is not over yet. Because at the beginning of the 20th century, hallmark Company, an American greeting card manufacturer, used Mary's photo on the greeting cards sent to Britain.
It refers to the game of a blind date program and puts Mary in it, saying that Mary will definitely be the ugliest candidate in the blind date matching program.
But what I saw these cards was a doctor who specializes in acromegaly. He knew who was on the card and his mother's story, so he protested. Finally, the manufacturer urgently recalled the issued cards, ending the farce of people laughing at Mary.
(Today's headquarters of hallmark card manufacturers) It's hard to imagine a beautiful and moving woman being killed by illness.
In the end, I can only make money by being laughed at to raise my children, and even after death, I can't escape the fate of being humiliated.
Yes, Mary was really not beautiful after her illness, but she was tough, silent and kind, and gave up her dignity for her children. Yes, Mary is really ordinary, but as a mother, she deserves the word "great".