Blind man bowls a perfect game

On the evening of May 3, 2008, A 78-year-old man nicknamed “The Hammer” has bowled a perfect game. Dale Davis of Alta, Iowa, nailed 12 consecutive strikes and reached 300 on Saturday night during league play. What's more astonishing is that Davis is also legally blind! Davis has suffered from macular degeneration, a chronic eye disease, for the past decade. He can’t see out of his left eye and has limited peripheral vision in his right eye.

Davis’ perfect game came at a roll-off to conclude the league season at a four-lane alley in the small northwest Iowa community of about 1,800 people. Century Lanes owner Clem Ledoux said Davis’ game didn’t draw much attention until he reached 10 strikes. That’s when folks poured out of the bar to watch his final two shots.

Davis, who stands 5-foot-8 and just 115 pounds, threw a “Brooklyn,” where a right-hander strikes the left side of the head pin, for his final strike. The feat brought wild cheers from Davis’ fellow bowlers and onlookers. “It went down there and somebody hollered ‘Brooklyn!’ It was just a solid sound in the pocket,” said Davis, whose average score is 180. “It was quite a thrill. For just a few minutes there I felt like a pro.”

In the past, he had come close before, once throwing 11 strikes before pulling the 12th ball and settling for a 299. But that was many years ago. Before he had half his stomach removed because of a tumor. Before he had a bypass done on his left leg to improve his circulation. And before he had lost his vision in 1997.

Davis sister encouraged him to start bowling again. "I told her, 'I can't see,'" Davis said. "'What makes you think I can bowl?' But she convinced me and, for the second time in my life, I was hooked." Davis now bowls twice a week, and his fellow bowlers help him with pin placement and in making sure he picks up the right ball.

This past season, Davis averaged 180, often stringing four and five strikes together. Despite standing a fragile 120 pounds, he earned the nickname, "Hammer," for the power with which he threw his ball. Davis said the only time he sees the ball is when he picks it up, but he can usually tell how his throw went by sound. All 12 tosses sounded great to Davis, who bowled the first 300 that Ledoux could recall at the alley since he took over in 1984. “He’s got good coordination. He’s got good timing,” Ledoux said. “We’ve always kidded him that we think his bowling ball has eyes.”

Source : ESPN

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Big breast helps to win verdict

She used to hate her body so much. To her, her 44-inch bust was a burden. But this time, it was her breast that helps her to overturn a court verdict. The bikini model and actress, who goes by her professional name Serena Kozakura, was cleared after a court decided she was too well-endowed to squeeze into a room through a hole, as she had been found guilty of earlier.

Kozakura 38, was charged with having kicked down the door of a man's apartment after she had been kicked out following an argument with another woman there in November 2006. In July last year, the Tokyo District Court found her guilty of willful destruction of property, but she appealed against the conviction.

During the appeal hearing, the court heard testimony from the man and a witness who both said Kozakura had kicked a hole in the door, through which she wriggled through to re-enter the apartment. The hole in the door was a rectangular shape 72 centimeters long by 22 centimeters wide. But Kozakura has a 101-centimeter bust and her breasts alone extend out 29 centimeters from her chest bone.

The appeal hearing conducted a reconstruction of the alleged crime and found that it would have been extremely difficult for Kozakura to squeeze through the hole in the door as witnesses testified she had. Further doubt was cast on the validity of the man's testimony because the clothes she had been wearing at the time of the incident were not damaged as they would have been had she gone through the hole, nor did her feet show any signs of marks that would have occurred had she kicked the door.

Tokyo High Court presiding judge Kunio Harada agreed and threw out the guilty verdict on Monday, saying there was reasonable doubt over the man's account. Kozakura was delighted by the ruling. "I lost work after being charged, but justice prevailed in the end," she said at a news conference she held in Tokyo after the conviction was overturned. "I was always worried about being a bit fat, but this time I was glad."

Source : www.news.com.au

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The real Papa Smurf

Fourteen years ago, Paul Karason developed a bad case of dermatitis, which results in swollen, reddened and itchy skin. He started self-medicating, using a treatment called colloidal silver, which is made by extracting silver from metal. Instead of curing him, it turned him into a real life Papa Smurf!

The substance is usually consumed orally but Mr Karason also decided to rub it into his peeling skin to accelerate the effects. According to the 57-year-old, his skin slowly turned blue that neither he nor he friends noticed the change at first. "The change was so gradual that I didn't perceive it and other people around me likewise," said Karason. "It wasn't until a friend I hadn't seen in several months came by my parent's place to see me and he asked me 'what did you do?.'"

Karason, who recently moved from Oregon to Madera, California, said it hasn't been easy living with blue skin. He try to avoid public places as much as he can. Karason made the move in hopes of fitting in a little better. "I hope that they just accept me," he said, "And I think that will happen here. Where I was, I rather doubt it would have. This is different kind of community here." So far, Karason hasn't sought any medical attention for his condition. When he was asked if he's still drinking the colloidal silver, he said yes, but much less.

The FDA does not consider colloidal silver safe or effective to treat any disease or condition. In fact, taking it could have serious side effects such as Argyria, an irreversible blue-gray discoloration of your skin, nails and gums; Seizures and other neurological problems; Kidney damage; Indigestion; Headaches; Fatigue and Skin irritations.

Source : Fox News

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M. Schumacher the fastest taxi driver

When one cabbie in southern Germany apparently was not driving fast enough, his customer, former Formula One champion Michael Schumacher, took the wheel himself. The seven-times world champion shocked a cab driver by taking over the wheel in order to be on time for a flight.

Schumacher, 38, flew into the aerodrome at the Bavarian town of Coburg on Saturday and took a taxi to the village of Gehuelz, 30 kilometres away, to pick up a new puppy - an Australian Shepherd dog called "Ed". But when the former Formula One ace, plus his wife and two children, caught a taxi back to the airport they were short on time and, afer a polite request, cab driver Tuncer Yilmaz watched in wonder as Schumacher took the wheel.

"I found myself in the passenger seat, which was strange enough, but to have "Schumi" behind the wheel of my cab was incredible, he drove at full throttle around the corners and over-took in some unbelievable places." Mr Yilmaz was well rewarded for the unusual journey - on top of the 60 euros (88 US dollars) fare, he was also given a 100 euros (146 US dollars) tip.

Schumacher’s spokeswoman, Sabine Kehm, confirmed the story. She said Schumacher had flown in from Switzerland on Saturday on his private jet to buy a puppy from a breeder in the town of Gesuelz. The German track ace, who now lives in Switzerland, retired from Formula One in 2006 after a glittering career and, despite test drives for his old team Ferarri, has insisted there is no chance of a return to racing.

Source : BBC News

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Kill with a kiss

A woman has been sentenced to death for killing her lover with a kiss! Xia Xinfeng and her childhood sweetheart, Mao Ansheng, swore an oath that if either was unfaithful, they would have to die. Xia took action after she saw her man talking to a woman in a way that made her suspicious, a court in Henan province, central China, was told.

They had arranged to meet the next day at a public bath-house. She filled a plastic pellet with rat poison, hid it under her tongue, and while they were kissing, nudged it into his mouth. Mao failed to notice it, swallowed it and died shortly afterwards.

Rat poison is one of the common methods of murder and suicide in China, so much so that one variety, "dushuqiang" was banned three years ago. In one case, a widow used it to kill 10 guests, with whom she had been engaged in a feud, at her husband's funeral banquet.

Despite the crackdown, however, besides Xin Xinfeng, a couple from Yunnan province, Chen Lihua and Huang Jianxiao, were also sentenced to death this week, suspended for two years, for lacing their respective spouses' dinners with rat poison.

Source : The Shanghai Daily

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London bridge may fall, paper bridge may not

Shigeru Ban is an accomplished Japanese and international architect, most famous for his innovative work with paper, particularly recycled cardboard paper tubes used to quickly and efficiently house disaster victims. Shigeru Ban was the winner in 2005 at age 48 of the 40th annual Thomas Jefferson Medal in Architecture from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. He was profiled by Time Magazine in their projection of 21st century innovators in the field of architecture and design.

Shigeru Ban studied at the Southern California Institute of Architecture and later went on to Cooper Union’s School of Architecture where he studied under John Hejduk and graduated in 1984. Hejduk was a part of the The New York Five. From Hejduk, Ban learned not only fundamental elements of architecture, but also gained an interest in ‘architectonic poetics’ or the creation of three-dimensional poetry. Hejduk, the most experimentally minded of the New York Five, had a lasting influence on Ban, whose work has continuing explorations into basic geometric elements. Ban’s formal explorations with basic building materials helped to lead him into unique structural solutions.

Ban is most-famous now for his innovative work with paper and cardboard tubing as a material for building construction. He was the first architect in Japan to construct a building primarily out of paper, with his paper house and required special approval for his building to pass Japan’s building code. Ban is attracted to using paper because of its low-cost, its recyclable, low-tech and they’re replaceable. The last aspect of Ban’s influences is his humanitarianism and his attraction to ecological architecture. Ban’s work with paper and other materials is heavily based on its sustanability and because it produces very little waste. As a result of this, Ban’s DIY Refugee shelters (used in Japan after the Kobe earthquake, in Turkey, Rwanda and around the world) are very popular and effective for low-cost disaster relief-housing.

When the Japanese architect Shigeru Ban was asked to build a footbridge over the Gardon River in the south of France, he designed one that was keenly sensitive to its surroundings. He constructed it from locally available materials and based its geometry on the nearby Pont du Gard, a historic Roman aqueduct. Ban used a mixture of cardboard tubes, recycled labels and creative engineering.

The surprisingly strong structure can withstand the load of at least 20 people, rose triumphantly against the backdrop of the ancient monument. The 72-foot-long frame was made primarily from 281 cardboard tubes — each four and a half inches in diameter and about three-quarters of an inch thick. The tubes were held together by steel joints. For the steps, Ban used a new material called ProFi, assembled from paper and plastic left over from the manufacture of self-adhesive labels. Wooden boxes buried underground and packed with local sand formed the foundations.

The bridge diameter and curvature were modeled on the classic proportions of the Pont du Gard’s arch. “It was an interesting contrast,” Ban says. “But it was both a contrast and a harmony.” The design of the bridge allows for easy assembly and dismantling. It took a team of architecture students only a month to complete the installation, which remained open to the public for six weeks before being dismantled in August before the rainy season. Ban says he expects it to be rebuilt next year.

The main challenge, Ban says, was not mastering the engineering of the bridge but persuading skeptics to rethink basic principles of design. “The strength and durability of a structure has nothing to do with the material,” he said. Ban fits well into the category of “Ecological Architects” but he also can make solid claims for being modernist, a Japanese experimentalist as well as a rationalist. “I don’t like waste” is an apt quote from Ban, summing up his philosophy, known as “Paper George's Architecture.”

Source : www.shigerubanarchitects.com
Source : www.nytimes.com

Tags : Shigeru Ban Japan Japanese Architecture Gardon River France paper bridge cardboard tubes crative enginerring

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Anencephaly - Neckless baby

Anencephaly is a cephalic disorder that results from a neural tube defect that occurs when the cephalic (head) end of the neural tube fails to close, usually between the 23rd and 26th day of pregnancy, resulting in the absence of a major portion of the brain, skull, and scalp. Infants with this disorder are born without a forebrain, the largest part of the brain consisting mainly of the cerebral hemispheres.

Such is the case that happens in Nepal as it is reported by eKantipur.com. The birth of a bizarre-looking baby in Charikot, the headquarters of Dolakha district, drew a huge number of onlookers to witness the astonishing sight. The neck-less baby with its head almost totally sunk into the upper part of the body and with extraordinarily large eyeballs literally popping out of the eye-sockets, was born to Nir Bahadur Karki and Suntali Karki at the Gaurishnkar Hospital in Charikot.

The bizarre baby, however, died after half an hour of its birth, Suntali, the mother, informed. It was taken to the hospital after its death. The news about such a baby being brought to the hospital spread like wildfire and there were hundreds gathered at the hospital to have a look. The police had to be deployed to control the crowd.

"We wouldn't have been able to save it, even if it had been brought here alive" said a nurse attending to the mother at the hospital, adding "This is an extremely abnormal case". The baby weighed 2kg at birth and was born after the normal nine-month gestation period.

Suntali, already a mother of two normal daughters, was not suffering from any illness during the pregnancy. Nir Bahadur, the father, says he does not feel any remorse for the newly-born baby's death. I am happy that nothing happened to my wife, he said.

Note : Though Anencephaly does exist, the story and the 2nd attached photos authenticity is undetermined. Also, it was not known why the baby was paraded.

Source : library.med.utah.edu
Source : kantipuronline.com

Tags : Anencephaly cephalic disorder neck-less baby disorder Nepal Gaurishnkar Hospital

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Man with tree roots limbs

Dede, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, has become an outcast where he lives in the village of Tanjung Jaya, about 150 km south of the capital Jakarta. As a teenager, he first noticed warts growing on his body after he cut his knee. The 35-year-old was sacked from his job and deserted by his wife after wart roots started to grow from his hands and feet.

Now known as "Tree Man", his incredibly long warts on his hands and feet that resemble tree roots is baffling many experts about the cause of his condition, and believed to be a life-threatening. An US expert now believes that Dede may be cured from the condition. According to reports, Dr Anthony Gaspari from the University of Maryland, after testing his blood and found that the growths are the result of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV).

The Indonesian man says he is unable to work or travel anywhere and is forced to stay at his parent's home because his hands and feet are so heavy and cumbersome due to the growths. He said "First it felt itchy and some warts appeared on my feet. I neglected it and then growths started appearing quickly, covering my whole body". Dr. Gaspari has proposed a treatment plan for Dede and hopes to clear up the condition with daily doses of a synthetic form of Vitamin A.

Source : telegraph.co.uk

Tags : Dede Indonesia Indonesian Tanjung Jaya Jakarta Tree Man Human Papilloma Virus HPV Anthony Gaspari

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Largest nail & toothpick mosaic

Albanian artist Saimir Strati used tens of thousands of nails to create a portrait of Leonardo da Vinci, making it the world's biggest nail mosaic. Strati was named in the Guinness Book of World Records on Monday (4 September) for his nail mosaic, which measures 8 square meters. Saimir Strati shows the portrait of Leonardo Da Vinci he created with industrial nails at the International Centre of Culture in Tirana, Albania. Strati, 40, were recognised by Guinness World Record officials for having created the world's largest nail mosaic with about 500,000 industrial nails.

But that's not the only world record he created. Alongside the nail mosaic, there's an image of a horse created with more than half a million toothpicks in homage to Antoni Gaudi has earned him a second entry in the Guinness Records. Ms. Andrea Banfi, an adjudicator for Guinness World Records, told a cheering crowd after checking that the mosaic followed the guidelines agreed with Guinness, "I've measured it; it is a new Guinness World Record". The Largest Toothpick's Mosaic is 8 meter square using approximately 1.5 milion of toothpicks.

Strati spent 13 hours a day for 40 days on the mosaic measuring 2m by 4m in a technique resembling digital camera pixels, using either sharpened or blunt ends of oak, poplar and bamboo toothpicks. He said the idea to produce the mosaic came to him while he tried to explain to a friend what La Sagrada Familia, the unfinished Barcelona cathedral of Spanish architect and artist Antoni Gaudi, looked like. He took some toothpicks from the table and opened them to show him how it looked like. The horse is named 'Reinless Spirit' to honour Gaudi's flight of genius. The mosaic was shown to the public in the round hall of Tirana's pyramid-shaped culture centre.

Source : www.news.com.au
Source : www.mosaicart-sast.com

Tags : Saimir Strati Albania Guinness World of Records Guinness Book of Records Leonardo Da Vinci nail art Reinless Spirit toothpick art art mosaic International Centre of Culture tirana

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Solving crimes by hearing only

Sacha Van Loo is not your typical cop. Although he is not entitled to carry a gun on the job or to make arrests, he is one of only six people in a special police force in Belgium. Van Loo is one of Europe's newest weapons in the global fight against terrorism, drug trafficking and organized crime. A blind Sherlock Holmes whose disability allows him to pick up clues sighted detectives does not see.

Van Loo, 36, who has been blind since birth, is one of six blind police officers in a pioneering unit specializing in transcribing and analyzing surveillance recordings in criminal investigations. He also speaks seven languages, including Russian and Arabic.

The blind police unit, which became operational in June, originated after Van Thielen heard about a blind police officer in the Netherlands. Van Thielen was looking for ways to improve community outreach, and he hoped that blind people would prove more adept than the sighted at listening to surveillance recordings and interpreting them.

But his sense of hearing is so acute that Paul Van Thielen, a director at the Belgian Federal Police, compared his powers of observation to those of a superhero. When the police eavesdrop on a suspected terrorist making a phone call, Van Loo can identify the number instantly by listening to the tones. By hearing the sound of a voice echoing off a wall, he can deduce whether a suspect is speaking from an airport lounge or a crowded restaurant. And from the purr of an engine on a wiretap, he can discern whether a suspect is driving a Peugeot, a Honda or a Mercedes.

"I have had to train my ear to know where I am," Van Loo said. "It is a matter of survival to cross the street or get on a train. Some people can get lost in background noise, but as a blind man I divide hearing into different channels. It is these details that can be the difference between solving and not solving a crime."

"Being blind has forced me to develop my other senses, and my power as a detective rests in my ears," he said from his office at the Belgian Federal Police, where a bullet-riddled piece of paper from a recent target-shooting session was proudly displayed on the wall. "Being blind also requires recognizing your limitations," he added with a smile, noting that a sighted trainer guided his hands during target practice "to make sure no one got wounded."

Grappling with his blindness, he says, has also given him the thick emotional skin necessary for dealing with the job's stresses. "I have overheard criminals plotting to commit murder, drug dealers making plans to drop off drugs, men beating each other up," Van Loo said. "Being blind helps not to let it get to me, because I have to be tough."

To accommodate the new blind officers in the police station, they've installed elevators with voice-activated buttons and issued each blind officer a special computer equipped with a Braille keyboard and a system that translates images on the screen into sound. When Van Loo goes outside, he carries a compact police-issued global positioning system device with a voice that directs him to his destination, street by street.

Source : abcnews.go.com

Tags : Sacha Van Loo blind Sherlock Holmes blind police unit Belgium police officer blind

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Man targets to have 100 child by 2015

A one-legged father from UAE of 78 is lining up his next two wives in a bid to reach his target of 100 children by 2015. Daad Mohammed Murad Abdul Rahman, 60, has already had 15 brides although he has to divorce them as he goes along to remain within the legal limit of four wives at a time.

"In 2015 I will be 68 years old and will have 100 children," the local tabloid quoted Abdul Rahman as saying. "After that I will stop marrying. I have to have at least three more marriages to hit the century."

The United Arab Emirates newspaper splashed its front page with a picture of Abdul Rahman surrounded by his children, the eldest of whom is 36 years old and the youngest of whom is 20 days old. Two of his current three wives are also pregnant.

Abdul Rahman said his large family lived in 15 houses. He supports them with his military pension and the help of the government of Ajman, one of seven emirates that comprise the UAE, which includes the Gulf trade and tourism hub of Dubai. Islam allows men to marry up to four women at a time, though most marry only one. The UAE is a Muslim country but is home to migrants from around the world.

Source : dailymail.co.uk

Tags : Abdul Rahman UAE United Arab Emirates 78 kids 100 22

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I now pronounce you man and bitch

15 years ago, P. Selvakumar was a healthy young man, but everything changes since he stoned 2 dogs to death and hanged their bodies to a tree. Since then, he said that he has been curse since after the killing, he suffered paralysis and the loss of hearing in one ear. He tried every cure for his ailment but could not be rid of his disability.

Many attempts throughout the years to get rid of the curse failed. P. Selvakumar, now a 33-year-old farm laborer from the southern state of Tamil Nadu finally seeks advice from an astrologer. The astrologer told Selvakumar the only way to atone for his actions is to marry a bitch! He heeded the advice, and the wedding took place at a Hindu temple in Tamil Nadu state. The "bride" named Selvi wore an orange sari with a flower garland.

A reception attended by some 200 guests was held for the newlyweds in the groom's house during which Selvi grew restless and ran away. However the run away bride was subsequently recaptured and returned to her husband who gave her milk and a bun to celebrate. A relative of the groom who attended the wedding said he hoped Mr Selvakumar would now be cured.


Source : BBC News

Tags : P. Selvakumar Tamil Nadu marries married dog bitch Selvi husband wife


For more bizarre marriage, check out the previous article on Married to a doll

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Girl hailed as Hindu Goddess

When Shambhu's daughter was born in a rural Indian family, villagers in the remote settlement of Rampur Kodar Katti in the northern state of Bihar believed she was sacred. Her parents, Shambhu and Poonam Tatma, named the girl Lakshmi after the Hindu goddess of wealth who has four arms. Believe it or not, Lakshmi Tatma the little girl did born with 4 arms and legs!

As the news of her birth spread, locals and neighboring town people waited in line just to get a blessing from the baby. However, her parents were forced to keep her in hiding after they were approached by men trying to buy their daughter to put her in a circus. Children born with deformities in deeply traditional rural parts of India, like where Lakshmi is borned, are often viewed as reincarnated gods. This young girl is no different as she is named after the four-armed Hindu goddess of wealth.

In scientific terms Lakshmi case is called "parasitic twin", the twins that stopped developing in her mother's womb. The surviving fetus absorbed the limbs, kidneys and other body parts of the undeveloped fetus. The two spines are merged, she has four kidneys, entangled nerves, two stomach cavities, an extra torso and limbs but no head. She cannot stand up or walk. It was joined to Lakshmi at the pelvis.

To let her live a normal life again, surgery is needed to remove the extra body parts and unfused Lakshmi's spine from her twin's. But the cost of the surgery is not cheap, with the total cost of $625,000, it's far too great for the Lakshmi's family to afford as the couple only earns just $1 a day as casual laborers. Fortunately, after Dr. Sharan Patil visited the girl in her village from Narayana Health City hospital in Bangalore, the hospital's foundation agreed to fund the operation.

On November 2007, More than 30 surgeons took 27 hours to not only remove two of Lakshmi's arms and two of her legs but also to rebuild much of her body and save her organs. They say the chances of death were as high as 25 percent. The operation went well and Lakshmi has made steady progress. Later, she was taken off a respirator and her parents were allowed to visit.

Many villagers, however, remain opposed to surgery and are planning to erect a temple to Lakshmi, who they still revere as sacred. Dr. Patil said Lakshmi's parents are "very practical" and knew the risks of the medical treatment. Asked about the belief she is a reincarnation of the goddess, he said, "She's a very charming young girl, and I'm sure she'll grow up and be something special."

Source : www.cnn.com

Tags : Lakshmi Tatma Shambhu Bihar Lakshmi Hindu goddess parasitic twin surgeons surgery Dr. Sharan Patil India


A special thanks to Joyce from moviestvreviews.blogspot.com for bringing this story to my attention.

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Pregnant at the age of 5!

In 1939, a man from a small village in the Andes Mountains carried his five-year-old daughter into a hospital in the town of Pisco, Peru. He indicated to the doctors there that the shamans in his village had been unable to cure the large tumor that was developing in his daughter's abdomen that caused her stomach to bloat. But upon examination, the doctors learned that the swelling was not a tumor.

The father told Dr. Gérado Lozada that her daughter strangely having regular periods since age three, but they had stopped about 7 1/2 months prior to the visit. Dr. Gérado listened to the young girl's abdomen with a stethoscope, and heard a tiny second heartbeat. An X-Ray was also performed, after which there could be no doubt… to the doctors' astonishment, five-year-old Lina Medina was about seven months pregnant!



Dr. Gérado Lozada
together with Lina
Medina and her
son Gerardo.
Soon she was transferred to a hospital in the city of Lima, where specialists confirmed the pregnancy. Lina's father was arrested on suspicion of incest, but due to lack of evidence, he was released. On Mother's Day in 1939, when Lina was just under 5 years and 8 months old, her baby was delivered by cesarean section. It