Brainhell (1963 – February 2, 2008) was the pen name of Brian Hill, an American journalist and poet who blogged closely and anonymously for four years about

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most comm ...

(ALS), the disease that eventually killed him. Hill never identified himself by his real name, and pictures he posted to the blog did not show his face; after his death, however, a full facial photo was posted on the front page of the blog. Hill started the "brainhell" blog in December 2003, after he had first visited doctors about a mysterious set of symptoms that included his left arm and leg acting "lazy". He led readers through the complex rounds of medical tests, before his diagnosis with ALS on 13 January 2004. Brainhell explained in a January 2005 interview with the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...

'' that he began blogging to keep his family and friends informed about his condition, but moved to writing for a wider audience "in case other people diagnosed with ALS searched for a blog about having the disorder." Over the next four years, brainhell closely documented his life, family and philosophical inquiries, while measuring his own physical deterioration, often with mathematical precision. Brainhell insisted on maintaining his confidentiality and his family's privacy. His real name was never publicly connected to the "brainhell" blog until after his death. Among other news sources, the ''San Francisco Chronicle'' published an

obituary An obituary ( obit for short) is an article about a recently deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on positive aspects of the subject's life, this is not always the case. Ac ...

of Brian Hill. ''The San Francisco Chronicle'' did not, however, refer to the term "brainhell" or otherwise connect Hill to the "brainhell" blog. Hill was publicly revealed to be "brainhell" in this Wikipedia article. Hill's posts grew shorter and his typing more tortured as the disease progressed, but he continued blogging even on his deathbed, noting his ups and downs with caregivers. The last blog post he placed himself was on 23 January 2008, addressed to his wife and children. The blog remained online as of May 2018.

References

External links

brainhell
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brainhell 1963 births 2008 deaths American bloggers Writers of blogs about home and family Neurological disease deaths in California Deaths from motor neuron disease Writers from California Anonymous bloggers