Zaher Nahle's fascinating post on Darwin (Did he have ME/CFS?) reminded me of Washington Roebling. I came across his incredible story in David McCullough's book the Brooklyn Bridge - a fascinating read.
[bimg=fright|no-lightbox]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/93/WashingtonAugustusRoebling.jpg/220px-WashingtonAugustusRoebling.jpg[/bimg]Washington Roebling - a decorated civil war veteran and the engineer who built the Brooklyn Bridge. A physically strong man his health collapsed one day - probably from bends - during the construction of the bridge.
He never recovered and in fact got worse and worse. At some point he was diagnosed with neurasthenia. His nervous system was so shattered that he spent his days in a dark room - intolerant to light and sound. Although physically his health was shattered unlike many people with ME/CFS his intellectual capabilities remained intact. The bridges plans were in his head, tand he managed, with his wife's help, to supervise the construction of this massive project from his bedside - from memory.
From the day of his collapse until the bridges completion he never saw the bridge again. (It remains one of the sturdiest structures ever built). In fact, he was described as being on his deathbed the day the bridge opened.
Over a long time period of time he was able to recover some of his health - enough to provide leadership of one of the Roebling's companies - but he was never the same man again.
[bimg=fright|no-lightbox]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/93/WashingtonAugustusRoebling.jpg/220px-WashingtonAugustusRoebling.jpg[/bimg]Washington Roebling - a decorated civil war veteran and the engineer who built the Brooklyn Bridge. A physically strong man his health collapsed one day - probably from bends - during the construction of the bridge.
He never recovered and in fact got worse and worse. At some point he was diagnosed with neurasthenia. His nervous system was so shattered that he spent his days in a dark room - intolerant to light and sound. Although physically his health was shattered unlike many people with ME/CFS his intellectual capabilities remained intact. The bridges plans were in his head, tand he managed, with his wife's help, to supervise the construction of this massive project from his bedside - from memory.
From the day of his collapse until the bridges completion he never saw the bridge again. (It remains one of the sturdiest structures ever built). In fact, he was described as being on his deathbed the day the bridge opened.
Over a long time period of time he was able to recover some of his health - enough to provide leadership of one of the Roebling's companies - but he was never the same man again.
...
