Vertus Wellborn Hardiman (March 9, 1922 – June 1, 2007) was a victim of a US government human radiation experiment at the age of five that left him with a painful skull deformity that forced him to cover his head for 80 years.

Life

Hardiman was born in

Lyles Station, Indiana Lyles or Lyles Station is an unincorporated community in Patoka Township, Gibson County, Indiana. The community dates from 1849, although its early settlers first arrived in the 1830s, and it was formally named Lyles Station in 1886 to honor Jo ...

. In 1928, he attended

Lyles Consolidated School Lyles Consolidated School is a historic school in Lyles Station, Indiana, Lyles Station, Indiana. The third school to be located in Lyles Station, it was opened in 1919 and used until 1958. Abandoned for nearly forty years, it had deteriorated al ...

where he and nine other children were severely irradiated during a medical experiment conducted at the local county hospital. To get parental consent the experiment was misrepresented as a new therapy for the scalp fungus known as

ringworm Dermatophytosis, also known as ringworm, is a fungal infection of the skin. Typically it results in a red, itchy, scaly, circular rash. Hair loss may occur in the area affected. Symptoms begin four to fourteen days after exposure. Multiple a ...

. The radiation of the skull led to immediate symptoms but also to a severe progressive

necrosis Necrosis () is a form of cell injury which results in the premature death of cells in living tissue by autolysis. Necrosis is caused by factors external to the cell or tissue, such as infection, or trauma which result in the unregulated dige ...

of the bone throughout his life. The school children from Lyles Station School were delivered by their schoolbus, including Hardiman who was only five years old at the time and not technically enrolled in school. His mother sent him with his older brother to receive what they had been told was treatment for ringworm. All of the children treated with the radiation complained of the same symptoms: they all experienced headaches, suffered from dizziness, and felt extreme burning of the scalp. Eventually all the children lost their hair permanently. The parents of the children met with a local lawyer and filed a lawsuit against the hospital, focusing on how the parents had been misled and tricked, but the hospital were found not liable. Many suffered long-term effects, but Hardiman's were the most pronounced. In 1945 Hardiman traveled to California in search of broader opportunity. In 1946 he worked for the County of Los Angeles General Hospital, where he served with distinction. He lived his last years in

Altadena, California Altadena () ("Alta", Spanish for "Upper", and "dena" from Pasadena) is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in the Verdugo Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, approximately 14 miles (23 km) from the downtown ...

and died at age 85. Hardiman's life is the subject of a documentary released in 2011 that was written and produced by Wilbert Smith and directed by

Brett Leonard Brett Leonard (born May 14, 1959) is an American film director, producer and music video director specializing in the science fiction and horror genres. A few of his films such as ''The Lawnmower Man'' (1992) and ''Virtuosity'' (1995) feature ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hardiman, Vertus 1922 births 2007 deaths People from Gibson County, Indiana