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Chapter 7 The Last Letter |
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Six months later, in April 1890, |
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I found him dead in bed. |
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He was on his back in bed, |
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so at first I thought he was asleep. |
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I talked to him, but he did not move. |
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Then I saw that the skin on his face was blue, |
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so I knew he was dead. |
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He did not usually sleep on his back. |
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His enormous head was very heavy, |
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so he usually sat up in bed with his arms round his legs, |
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and his head on his knees. |
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He could sleep well like this. |
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But he wanted to sleep on his back like you and me. |
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He tried to sleep on his back that night, |
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but his heavy head came off the bed, |
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and he broke his neck. He died very quickly. |
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Next day, the Chairman of the London Hospital, |
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Mr Carr Gomm, wrote to the editor of The Times again. |
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The Times, April 16th, 1890 |
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Dear Sir, |
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Three and a half years ago |
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I wrote to you about a man called Joseph Merrick. |
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This man was called 'The Elephant Man' |
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because he was born with a very ugly body. |
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Merrick was not ill, but he could not work, |
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and he had no money. |
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The readers of The Times felt sorry for him, |
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and they gave me a lot of money for Merrick. |
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Because of this money, |
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we could give Merrick a home in the London Hospital. |
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It was his first good home, |
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and for three and a half years he lived here happily. |
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The doctors and nurses of the hospital helped him, |
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and many important people visited him. |
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He read many books, he went to the theatre, |
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and in the summer he stayed in the country for six weeks. |
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Because of your readers' money, |
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we could give him a happy life. |
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Last night Joseph Merrick died quietly in his bed. |
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He was a man with a very ugly body, |
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but he was a good, kind man, |
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and he had a lot of friends. |
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We liked to talk to him, and we are all very sorry because he is dead. |
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A lot of people are going to remember him for a longtime. |
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There is some money left, so I am going to give it to the hospital. |
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Thank you, sir, for your help. |
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Yours faithfully |
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F. C. Carr Gomm |
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Chairman of The London Hospital |
