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Named the 'world’s dirtiest man ', Amou Haji deliberately avoided bathing, soap and water for more than 60 years before his death under unusual circumstances.
Haji, who hailed from Iran, eventually attracted international attention, with journalists and researchers fascinated by how he managed to live into his 90s despite shunning conventional hygiene and consuming food and water that most people would consider unsafe.
Yet, it was what happened after he eventually agreed to wash himself for the first time in decades that makes his story even more fascinating.
Born in August 1928, in Iran’s Fars province, local reports suggested Haji became increasingly isolated following emotional difficulties and heartbreak earlier in his life.
He eventually settled in the village of Dezh Gah, where locals occasionally provided him with food and other necessities.
However, despite accepting food supplies, Haji reportedly believed that exposing himself to soap and water would make him sick.
His aversion became so extreme that he even fled when villagers once attempted to force him to take a shower.
Over the years, layers of dirt, ash and soot accumulated on his skin.
Author Claudia Hammond reportedly observed that he could appear almost indistinguishable from the barren landscape when sitting motionless.
Rather than washing, Haji believed smoke helped keep him clean and would reportedly sit beside fires, allowing soot to cover his body.
His living arrangements were equally unconventional.
For years, he reportedly slept in a hole dug into the ground before villagers eventually built him a basic cinder-block shelter.
Haji's diet was another reason he became such a global curiosity.
Reports claimed he ate roadkill and carrion, with rotting porcupine said to be among his favourite foods. He also reportedly drank water from puddles and rusty containers.
Perhaps most unusually, he was known to smoke animal dung through an old pipe.
Images of Haji also frequently showed him smoking several cigarettes simultaneously.
When his hair grew too long, he reportedly avoided barbers and instead used an open flame to burn away the excess.
Haji's extreme habits eventually attracted the attention of medical researchers.
According to reports, in 2014, experts examined him in an attempt to understand how he had apparently avoided serious illness.
The medical examiners were left surprised when their findings at the time suggested he was generally healthy, intriguing researchers interested in immunity, hygiene and long-term health.
His unusual circumstances did not mean that scientists recommended abandoning normal hygiene practices, but his apparent resilience nevertheless made him an extraordinary medical curiosity.
As stories about Haji spread, he became something of a global celebrity.
Journalists travelled to rural Iran to meet him, while photographs of the heavily soiled hermit circulated around the world.
His life was also documented in the 2013 film The Strange Life of Amou Haji.
For decades, nothing appeared capable of changing Haji's mind about bathing.
Yet, that all changed in 2022, when villagers managed to persuade him to wash after more than 60 years without a proper bath.
But just months later, he became seriously ill.
Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported that Haji died on October 23, 2022, aged 94, in Dezh Gah.
Reports said he became ill not long after taking his first bath, leading to widespread speculation about whether the two events could somehow have been connected.
However, there is no evidence that bathing caused his death.
At 94, Haji had already reached an advanced age, and the timing appears to have been a remarkable coincidence rather than proof of a connection.
Nevertheless, the strange sequence of events gave his extraordinary story one final twist: after spending more than six decades avoiding water and soap, the man known as the 'world’s dirtiest man' died only months after finally taking a bath.
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Sometimes it can be hard to truly see how you look to other people. I remember spending my teenage years brushing off family members and other adults who told me my hair was way too long. I told them I liked it that way and it seemed like it was a lot cooler than having short hair like some of the other boys at my school, so I kept it right up until I was 17.
Looking back, however, it's very clear that me and all my male friends looked dumb as hell and definitely warranted concerned questions from those mature enough to see how bad it looked. It was only once I got it cut a lot shorter that I noticed how much better it looked.
The same could be said for beards, which are definitely 'in' right now. Maybe all us dudes who refuse to stay clean-shaven will regret it later, but it seems like it's sticking around for a while. And as many of you will know, men can get pretty attached to their beards - but likely not as much as this man was.
Josh completely stopped cutting his hair and shaving his beard after his military career ended 12 years ago, leaving her looking quite a bit different.
You can watch the full segment on Oprah's show below:
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On top of this, the 38-year-old veteran also began wearing the same outfit nearly every day: a white t-shirt, blue jeans and work boots.
His girlfriend Heidi missed how he used to look. She'd beg him to trim, noting that he looked like a "caveman", but he would always refuse. The look wasn't a huge issue for her, but she did admit she "just want him to be a little less... hairy".
Yet after years of this, she eventually got through - but it took a little help from none other than Oprah herself.
In this video from The Oprah Winfrey Show, he finally agrees to the makeover. Speaking to beauty and style experts, Josh said, "I dare you to make me look better than I do right now."
Tim Gunn from Project Runway took on the challenge, and while he needed a lot of reassurance during the makeover, they eventually pulled it off.
Gunn claimed that he wanted to enhance his personality rather than completely overhaul the look, so trimmed the beard down to a neater length, cut his hair down and gave him some designer clothing. He was given a tailored leather jacket, a pair of stylish jeans, a red sweater, a smart dress shirt, and this time some far more stylish boots.
Not all TV makeovers go well. This woman FAINTED after stylists cut 12-inches of hair off:
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“It’s all about reflecting who they are, their core, making them better, enhancing them,” Gunn said, and Josh added, "I feel like a new man."
When greeted with the new look, his partner Heidi said:
“He looks great, and this is exactly what I’ve been trying to get him to do. He still has beard and [facial] hair, but he looks great. I can’t get over it. Thank you, Tim!”
While he definitely looks younger and smarter this way, there's something about his old look that works too. Do you think he looked better before or after?
A woman left radio hosts mortified after revealing that she'd been cleaning her boyfriend's manhood each week for three years.
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We all love to do things for our partner in a relationship such as cleaning, doing the laundry, making them delicious meals, or even just giving emotional support.
It's a beautiful way of demonstrating how much you care for your significant other, but in some cases, there is a limit to what duties you fulfill in relationships.
One girlfriend really understood that her boyfriend's love language was acts of service when she confessed that she'd been cleaning her boyfriend's manhood every week to get rid of "20 years of build-up".
Watch the girlfriend speak about her boyfriend below:
The woman opened up about the shocking confession on The Hook Up Podcast with Dee Salmin and Pip Rasmussen, and it led to some seriously discomfited reactions from the hosts.
The video on their Instagram page was aptly titled: "First there was the mental load, now there's the d**k cheese load."
"I had to clean my partner's penis for three years," the girlfriend began. "Like the foreskin on his penis didn't come back all of the way. We'd gone to a doctor and everything and they couldn't really do anything to help it and he got very funny about that sort of situation."
As if it couldn't get any worse, she then explained how she washed her partner's manhood, sharing that she used "lube and a Q-tip to clean 20-something years of build-up".
The two podcast hosts gasped in horror at what the woman was admitting and questioned why the woman's boyfriend couldn't wash it himself, but the girlfriend said that "his penis freaked him out" to the point that he "wouldn't masturbate" because of it. The hosts then said "wow" in unison.
"I'm just, like, still trying to process that this was a job in your relationship to, like, clean your boyfriend's foreskin with a Q-tip for him every week for three years," one of the hosts added.
In the comments section, many people were equally stunned by the disclosure, with one user writing: "That’s love on her part right there! The poor guy really does need surgery tho," followed by a green vomit emoji.
Another quipped: "That's enough internet for me today," while a third user remarked: "I don’t know who was more mental in that relationship."
A fourth person shared that the boyfriend needs "proper help," adding: "Hope he got it sorted out cause that would be morally crushing."
Well, we all hope the situation has changed since then and that the boyfriend has been able to work it out himself.
A TikTok doctor is getting real about people's washing habits, revealing that there are body parts many people are not washing properly.
Posting to the platform, Dr. Jen Caudle shared the top five areas people don’t wash properly, and some of these might surprise you - because I sure as hell was.
It starts off with the belly button.
"That’s right, a lot of guys don’t wash their belly button at all," she says in the one-minute clip. "Guys, it gets gross! Please wash your belly button."
Up next we have the ears.
"The top of the ear, behind this little area here, the back, and also the lobe," she explains in the now-viral video. "I want you to specifically wash that area. If you rub your ear, you smell it and it’s gross, you haven’t washed it recently."
Not only that but things like shampoo scum can get trapped behind the ear and build up over time. Totally not cute.
Then we have the nails.
"This is where a lot of dirt and grossness gets trapped," she said. "We don’t often think about it!"
And it's true! Bacteria builds up under the nails and because we use our hands so often to do daily tasks, we're spreading those germs to other parts of our body.
The fourth body part may come as a surprise... Legs.
Now, I don't know who said it was just acceptable to let water drip down your body and assume that's enough to "wash" your legs, but whoever did probably deserves jail time.
Not only did they convince people that it's okay to accept water dribble as a form of washing, but also allowed them to openly admit it on the internet - and that's a crime in my eyes.
"Yes, you actually need to wash your legs," Dr. Caudle told her 90,000 followers.
"I’m not talking about letting that soap run down your legs in the shower, I’m talking about washing!"
And finally, we have the toes.
"Get in between those toes," she urges. "You want to make sure you’re preventing infections of many sorts. Make sure you’re deliberately washing your toes!"
Of course, the reaction to the video was mixed, with many wondering why the doctor would have to even tell people these things.
"What’s going on with folks not washing themselves," this user commented.
"It’s a SHAME you have to even say that," said another.
"Who DOESN’T wash these parts? I thought that we were all grown here!!", a third wrote.
Others suggested some more body parts to add to the list.
"And the back of the neck!! people neglect that area alot!!! lol."
"Don’t forget the upper backside," pointed out another.
"Behind the knees too."
Please take this advice on board and wash properly.
Li Hua, a farmer from rural China, faced a debilitating challenge at just 19 when he developed an extreme case of ankylosing spondylitis, a rare form of arthritis.
Over the years, the condition caused him to gradually fold forward, rendering him unable to walk or eat properly.
By the age of 35, he became known as China’s only ‘three-on’ patient - with his chin resting on his chest, sternum on his pubis, and face on his femur, putting immense pressure on his internal organs and posing a fatal threat.
For Li Hua, the future seemed bleak, especially as his devoted mother, Tang Dongchen, grew older and worried about his care if she were to pass away before he was cured, per That's Life. Their impoverished family lacked the means to afford treatment, leaving Li Hua's fate uncertain.
"I had been taking him from one hospital to the next since he was 18. I can't really complain because, after all, he is my son," she told The South China Morning Post. "It is not his fault that he got sick."
However, in 2019, hope emerged when surgeons from Shenzhen University General Hospital devised a meticulous plan to address Li Hua's condition.
Accompanied by his mother, Li Hua journeyed nearly 500 miles from his rural village to seek medical attention in Shenzhen.
Led by Professor Tao Huiren, they embarked on a series of four risky surgeries over several months, breaking and straightening Li Hua's bones to alleviate the pressure and restore his posture.
Prior to the surgery, the family was told of the risks: "He could go into hemorrhagic shock, become a paraplegic, or even die"
Describing the endeavor as akin to "climbing Mount Everest" in terms of medical complexity, Professor Tao and his team performed the intricate procedures from June to December, gradually "opening up" Li Hua's body to enable him to stand upright once more.
Per the Daily Mail, the specialized team addressed different sections of Li Hua's spine and hip, ultimately enabling him to lie flat and even undergo a hip replacement.
After months of intensive rehabilitation, Li Hua regained his ability to stand, walk with assistance, and eventually walk unaided.
His remarkable progress culminated in his discharge from the hospital just in time for his 46th birthday, marking a newfound sense of freedom and independence.
The South China Morning Post revealed that Li Hua is now running a shop for a living and cherishes the simple joys of life, including the ability to sleep on his back.
As part of his rehabilitation, he now uses special equipment to exercise twice a day at home for 30 minutes.
He also expressed thanks to his mother, telling the Post: "My mother is a king and extraordinary woman. Before the surgery, I couldn't take care of myself."
Grateful for Professor Tao and the medical team's expertise, Li Hua considers them his saviors, embodying a remarkable tale of resilience and triumph over adversity.
Jeff Bezos is being sued by a former housekeeper who claims she contracted UTIs at his Seattle mansion due to poor working conditions.
As reported by ABC News, former housekeeper Mercedes Wedaa filed the lawsuit against the Amazon founder claiming "unsafe and unhealthy work conditions" at his Washington home.
According to the lawsuit, which was filed in King County Superior Court in Seattle this week, Wedaa and other housekeeping staff worked up to 14 hours a day and failed to receive proper meals or rest breaks.
The ex-housekeeper was hired by the billionaire in 2019 and worked into 2021. The suit states that she was promoted to lead housekeeper and took orders from Bezos and his girlfriend, Lauren Sanchez.
Wedaa contends in the lawsuit that housekeepers were not allowed to use a bathroom in the security room and had to climb out of the laundry room window to get to another toilet.
According to the complaint, she and other housekeepers developed urinary tract infections as they "had to spend large parts of their day unable to use the toilet".
It isn't clear in the complaint how the workers entered the laundry room or how long they were allowed to remain in there if the family was home, or whether they could use a toilet when they entered the house to perform cleaning tasks.
Wedaa's attorney, Patrick Leo McGuigan, explained that he didn't have additional details regarding that matter, saying: "I did not question my client ad nauseum. She had to climb out a window. That's the key fact."
"I can't explain every circumstance and every piece of evidence there is. There's a lot of discovery to take place," Leo McGuigan added, per ABC News.
Wedaa, who is Hispanic, also alleges that household managers were only "respectful and polite" to white members of staff but treated the Hispanic cleaning staff poorly.
She also complained that an assistant house manager mistreated the Hispanic housekeepers on the property and punished her by downgrading her role and establishing a white housekeeper as the lead housekeeper.
Though Wedaa was never disciplined over her job performance, the lawsuit said that she was ultimately released from her position over complaints from other staff.
"Defendants cited the ridiculously concocted reason that she appeared 'unhappy' and that this was having a negative effect on the housekeeping team," it states, per ABC news.
In addition to Bezos, the lawsuit also names Zefram and Northwestern, the billionaire's two companies that manage properties and personal investments for the businessman.
The business mogul's attorney, Harry Korrell, has called the claims absurd and said Wedaa filed the lawsuit against Bezos and his two companies only after her demand for a $9 million payout was rejected.
"Ms. Wedaa made over six figures annually and was the lead housekeeper," Korrell said in an emailed statement, according to ABC news.
"She was responsible for her own break and meal times, and there were several bathrooms and breakrooms available to her and other staff. The evidence will show that Ms. Wedaa was terminated for performance reasons," he added.
The lawsuit against one of the world's richest people seeks damages in an amount that is yet to be determined at trial.
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