Unsung Heroes: Joseph's Caregivers at the London Hospital

There’s no doubt that Treves acted out of compassion in his aim to provide shelter for a fellow human being in need. But Joseph would never have survived without the devoted care of his nurses and hospital staff. As the Head Matron declares in the film, “I bathed him, I fed him, I cleaned up after him, and I see that my nurses do the same.” This is exactly right.

For four years, the nurses, maids, and porters who volunteered to care for Joseph Merrick had to go out of their way to reach him. Armed with bath supplies, linens, medicines and meal trays, they made the trek several times a day up many flights to the Isolation Ward, and later to his home in the remote wing of Bedstead Square. They are truly the unsung heroes of Joseph’s last years.