Grace McDanel (1888 - 1958), nicknamed "the mule woman", was born in the United States in the state of Iowa in a large family of ordinary farmers. Everyone in her family was absolutely normal. One day, Grace's face suddenly began to transform in the most incredible way. The family thought it was a birthmark.
The best American and Canadian doctors began to examine her. They discovered a rare disease, Sturge-Weber syndrome, manifested by spontaneous vascular malformation. The disease is not hereditary, but arises from a violation of the normal development of the embryo at 6-9 weeks. They rarely get sick - one in 50 thousand people. Most often, people have mental abnormalities, but facial skin lesions are rare.
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Gradually, the swelling on the girl's face grew and it became more and more deformed. The skin was purple and looked like raw meat. Grace could no longer move her mouth and speak normally, as her huge chin did not allow her mouth to open and close. A swollen nose hung over puffy lips, which were all the time parted in a terrible grin so that a row of sharp teeth was visible. The eyes on the disfigured face were lost in the folds of protruding blisters.
In 1935, she won the "Ugly Woman" competition and decided to appear in the show of freaks by F. A. Miller. The poor thing, apparently, could not refuse a large fee, since the performances brought her real suffering. They say that before going out in public, she plugged her ears so as not to hear the humiliating speech of the entertainer about her person. “She will show you her face, and you will thank the Lord that he did not create you like her,” the circus performer crucified.
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Even later, having tasted the sweetness of success, the star of the show did not come to terms with the nickname "the ugliest" and preferred to be called "woman-mule". Moreover, after the performance, she diligently preened herself, carefully powdering the bumps and bumps of her cheeks. Apparently, not in vain.
Despite her ghastly appearance, she was rumored to have had many men and was married three times. Grace eventually gave birth to a normal son named Elmer, who was the mother's manager until her death in September 1958.
According to other sources, the lady was never married, and the stage worker who liked her became the father of her son. Grace made a wonderful mother. They say she was very fond of housework, cooking and sewing clothes. According to people who knew the "mule woman", she was very kind to people.