"King of the Freaks": how was life for a man who had three legs

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

“Not being like everyone else” is a heavy burden that falls on the shoulders of people with physical disabilities. Society often does not accept them, it seems almost impossible for them to find a job and (all the more) to arrange a personal life. Their usual lot is to perform in the circus for the amusement of the crowd. Frank Lentini such a path was destined from birth, but he managed to find his calling and become a happy family man. This the man was born with three legs, but, despite the anomaly, he received joy from every day he lived!

The life of Frank Lentini (birth name Francesco) is a vivid example of how you can overcome any ailment and find the strength to enjoy life without giving up in front of piled up difficulties. During his life, Frank went through a lot: in infancy, his parents abandoned him, he was taken up by an aunt who did not have children of her own, but also could not bear life with such a special child.

Frank was the 12th child in an ordinary Sicilian family, he was born with three limbs. Such an anomaly was formed due to the fact that the 13th twin brother did not disconnect from him. "In memory" of him, the boy received not only an extra leg, but also another deformed foot with one toe (Frank had 16 toes in total) and another reproductive organ. The child suffered greatly from those inconveniences that "foreign" organs caused him, but gradually he learned to live in his own body.

When the aunt dropped her hands and handed the boy over to the Internet for disabled children, a fateful event took place in his life. Frank lived for a long time with blind children, as well as with those who did not have arms or legs at all. The main thing that he understood for himself during the time spent in the boarding school is that there are people in the world who live much worse than him.

The motivation to live and enjoy every day was so strong that Frank took up physical training. He learned to run and jump rope on his three legs, hit a soccer ball and act like he was no different from ordinary people.

When Frank was 8 years old, his parents decided to emigrate to America and took all the children with them. On a steamer that sailed across the ocean, Frank's father received an offer to send his son to the circus. The man did not agree, as he considered such an attitude towards his own son unacceptable. To be fair, my father tried to atone for his guilt in front of Frank and gave him the opportunity to get a university education. The guy was gifted, learned four foreign languages, was comprehensively developed. The personal life of Frank Lentini also developed, he married a girl who sincerely fell in love with him, they had four healthy children.

Lentini joined the circus troupe many years later, this decision was voluntary. To make his performances lively and interesting, he mastered juggling, learned several acrobatic tracks, knew how to ride a bicycle and skate, and mastered playing musical instruments. On circus posters he was called "the king of freaks", but his fellow artists called him simply "king", because his performances always made a splash, and he himself was a very pleasant and intelligent person. Lentini toured until his death.

You can read about the fate of other circus artists with terrible body defects in our review. "Not like everyone else".