Homeward Bound

Two amazing individuals, one who wanted to disappear, and another who refused to be left behind.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcomed Aaron Mankey's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of I
Heart Radio and Grim and Mild. Our world is full
of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book,
all of these amazing tales are right there on display,
just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet

(00:27):
of Curiosities. As we get older, our bodies start to
change in new and interesting ways. But we might get taller,
or our hair Michael Gray, our voices might deepen, and
we'll probably need to wear deodoranto every day. Me. I've

(00:48):
got this eyebrow hair, just one. It's like ten times
thicker than all the rest. And it's you know what,
never mind. All you need to know is that growing
up is all about change. But for one man, change
wasn't so normal. His body morphed in a way that
set him apart from everyone else, No bones about it.
Claude Ambrose Surat was born in Tis, France in sevente

(01:12):
Although his exact birth date remains unknown, he was believed
to have been born in early April. At the time
of his birth, Sarah didn't display any evidence of problems, deformities,
or disorders. He was a happy, healthy, bouncing baby boy. However,
as he got older, things changed. His chest started to
cave in and his heart could be seen beating within.

(01:35):
His arms and legs lost their mass, and although he
was technically healthy, he was weaker than his fellow children.
His family had no record of inherited diseases, and there
was no explanation of why his body was seemingly wasting
away before everyone's eyes. By fourteen, he had lost most
of his body weight, His skin hung on spindly bones,

(01:56):
and his ribs protruded from his middle. Trust me, he
did not look well. By eighty five, Saratt was twenty
eight years old. He stood at five ft seven inches
tall and weighed only seventy eight pounds. Today, male children
who are eleven years old should weigh an average of
seventy eight point five pounds and be four point seven
feet tall. Sarat Rather was woefully underweight for his age.

(02:20):
It was that same time when he traveled to England
for an exhibition at pall Mall. Pal Mall was a
street in central London that was home to numerous shops
and gentleman's clubs, and was also a major hub for
art During the nineteenth century, he was put on display
at a Chinese gallery where visitors could gawk at his
emaciated frame. One attendee, a man named William Hone, wrote

(02:43):
about Surat's extraordinary depression of the chest and his waist
like a wasps. Hone also described how the man eight,
which involved breaking his food into small pieces and chewing
them heavily to avoid choking. Sarat became a sensation known
as the living Skeleton. Upon his return to France, he
joined up with a traveling circus passing through Bordeaux in

(03:06):
eighteen twenty six, he was employed as a sideshow entertainer,
although in those days he was unfortunately referred to as
a freak. He performed for several more years with a
circus before disappearing around eighteen thirty three. He was never
seen again. Rumor had it that he had gone back
to London and spent his remaining time there before he died.

(03:27):
An art historian named Gilbert Richard Redgrave wrote in eighteen
sixty eight, I have not been able to ascertain the
date of his death. Who knows whether the poor fellow
may not still be going the round of the French fairs. Sadly,
Surat most likely died without ever knowing what ailed him.
Although he had never been formally diagnosed, at least to

(03:48):
our knowledge, his condition was analyzed and theorized after his disappearance.
He was believed to have suffered from, among other things,
sprangled deformity, a rare congenital disorder for identified in eighteen.
People with sprangled deformity often have one shoulder blade that
has misaligned on one side of the body. Sat also

(04:09):
probably had a condition that reduced his ability to take
in food, requiring him to eat small pieces in small amounts.
This contributed towards his malnourished figure. William Hone also recorded
further analyzes of Surat's body during his eighteen twenty five
visit to the London Gallery. It was likely that he
included findings provided by British surgeon Sir Astley Cooper. According

(04:31):
to those findings, Sarat had a flattened sternham as though
it had been driven inwards towards the dorsal vertebrae or backbone,
with his malformed sternum, which had also displaced his heart.
Surat had no idea that his body was actively working
against him, and we may never know for sure either,
since his body has never been recovered. For a time,

(04:53):
it was thought that Sir Astley Cooper had performed a
necropsy on the corpse following Sarat's death, although no records exist,
nor was his skeleton given to London's Royal College of
Surgeons for display in this museum. Another theory as to
his body's potential whereabouts. The museum doesn't have him either.
Claude Ambrose Surat was a man wasting away. Medical knowledge

(05:15):
and technology had not advanced enough to give him a
diagnosis that could have helped him, and because he slipped
into reclusiveness later in life, the truth about his condition
remains a mystery to this day. We know he didn't
eat much, but we still don't know what was eating him.

(05:46):
Bobby Brazer lived with his family in Silverton, Oregon, about
forty miles south of Portland. His parents, Frank and Elizabeth,
along with her daughters Nova and Leona, were planning a
road trip to visit family in August of ninete. They're
destination Walcott, Indiana. It was over two thousand, two hundred
miles away, more than halfway across the country, and a

(06:07):
one twenty trip A drivelag debt Today wouldn't be all bad,
considering we have roomy, air conditioned SUVs, smartphones, and fascinating
historical podcast to listen to along the way UEM. But
back in there was none of that. The Braziers piled
into their metal chariot, which had little to no suspension
and hardly any amenities, not even cup holders, and they drove.

(06:32):
They drove for thousands of miles, only stopping to eat
or put gas in the tank. During the last leg
of their trip, disaster struck. The family had made it
to Walcott, but decided to stop one last time to
fuel their car before heading over to their relative's house.
It was during this pit stop when young Bobby jumped
out of the car to stretch his legs. A pack

(06:52):
of wild dogs appeared out of nowhere and chase the
young Brazier boy away from his family. Distraught, they gave
up their trip and spent their time looking for him,
but he was nowhere to be found. After weeks of
searching and putting up posters, they were forced to abandon
their efforts and return home to Oregon. They feared the worst,

(07:12):
but it turns out that Bobby was a fighter he
had to be if he ever wanted to see his
parents and siblings again. Over the next six months, he
walked in average of fourteen miles each day, swimming across
rivers and even traversing a desert to get back home.
His journey took him over two mountains and through the
Continental Divide during a particularly nasty winter, but he didn't

(07:34):
survive on his own. He had helped from kind strangers
along the way, who kept him fed and gave him
a place to sleep during his trek. Finally, in February
of Bobby showed up in Silverton. His sister Nova had
been out with a friend when she spotted him. He
was dirty and had lost a lot of weight. He
had cuts all over his body, and his nails had

(07:55):
been ground down to almost nothing. Upon seeing him, she
ran over to him and then walked him over to
the Rio Cafe, a restaurant in town owned by the family.
The Braziers were shocked by the sight of their little
boys standing before them. They whisked him inside and fed
him a surloin steak with whipping cream, after which he
slept for three whole days. When the papers and radio

(08:17):
stations picked up the story, they turned Bobby into a
national sensation. People who had provided him with food and
shelter on his journey wrote in to tell their own
stories about meeting him. The mayor of Silverton gifted him
the key to the town for surviving his harrowing ordeal,
and people from all over sent him gifts like toys
and bones, yes bones. Bobby was only two years old

(08:40):
when he was nearly killed by a group of wild dogs,
but he knew exactly what to do. After all, he
was half Scotch Kylie, half English shepherd, and if any
dog was going to travel miles across the country to
find his family, it was going to be Bobby. And
thanks to the stories told by the people who had
helped him, the Humane Society of Portland's was a able
to map the route he had taken. It looked like

(09:02):
Bobby had made it back to the rest stop, but
his family had already left to go looking for him.
He couldn't find them, so he set back out on
his own, searching for a familiar scent to latch onto
every gas station they stopped at. Bobby was right behind them,
tracking them back to Oregon. After getting his paws cut
up and recuperating with an Irish woman in Portland, he

(09:23):
finally made it back home once and for all. His
story was so inspiring even Hollywood came calling. The prized
pooch was cast to play himself in a film called
The Call of the West, which hit theaters in nine. Sadly,
that same year was particularly hard for the Braziers, as
it was the same year that Bobby died. He was
only seven, but his doctors believed that his trip home

(09:45):
had affected him physically more than his family had known.
He was buried in Portland in the Humane Society's Pet Cemetery.
Following his burial, one of his fellow actors, the famous
dog Rin Tin Tin, paid him a visit. He deposited
a wreath at Bobby's grave, one last gift to the
dog who had nearly given his life to see his
family one more time. As for Bobby the Wonder Dog,

(10:08):
he was finally at peace, able to give his weary
pause a much needed rest. I hope you've enjoyed today's
guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free
on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show by
visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created by me,

(10:31):
Aaron Manky in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make
another award winning show called Lore, which is a podcast,
book series, and television show and you can learn all
about it over at the World of Lore dot com.
And until next time, stay curious.