Mothers do a lot of things for their children.
There’s hardly something they wouldn’t do to feed and provide for their kids. Mary Ann Webster is just the finest example of what a mother can do for her children.
The incredibly bold lady willingly became a laughing stock for people to feed her four kids.
She showcased her unusual appearance to people who wanted to see the ‘ugliest woman alive’ just to raise money for her family.
Mary started her life as a normal girl. She was born in a large and financially struggling family in London and started working as a nurse at a young age to help her family.
Mary, who’d always dream of getting married, finally tied the knot at 29 years of age.
After marrying Thomas Bevan, she was blessed with four children. Their life was going pretty normal unless two things occurred.
First, Mary started having medical issues like migraines, muscular pain, and joint aches. The dedicated housewife couldn’t pay attention to her medical condition as she was busy with her family.
With the passage of time, Mary started experiencing abnormal facial growth and soon she became something that hardly resembled a woman by any standard.
Second, Thomas died after 11 years of their marriage, leaving Mary widowed and alone in the world to feed her four children as well as to cope with her medical issues.
The condition Mary suffered with is known as acromegaly, a disorder which causes excessive production of growth hormones. The result is abnormal growth of bones, internal organs, and soft tissues.
Headaches and muscular pain are also among the symptoms of acromegaly. Easily curable today, this disease had no cure back in the early 20th century.
After the death of Thomas, Mary was ready to do anything to support her family but she did not get selected for any honorable job and was ridiculed on the streets.
Every day came with a new challenge for Mary and she was up to face practically anything just to feed her family.
Things were getting harder and harder for her until the day she found out about the World’s Ugliest Woman contest.
She decided to compete in the contest because she was sure to win it. And as she’d expected, Mary won the contest and got a large sum of money, but things were still not easy for her.
The media started publishing demeaning and derogating articles about her and it was not easy for her to take all that.
However, she was committed to earning for her family in any way possible so she decided to turn the situation into a constant source of income.
She got an invitation from the US in 1920 to work in Coney Island’s Dreamland show.
The job was to appear before the public and showcase her ugliness and masculinity wearing designated clothing that highlighted her unattractive appearance.
Back then, such shows were a norm and the cruel audiences actually enjoyed treating people as objects of ridicule. In addition, Mary also worked part-time for a circus.
The daring lady died at the age of 59 after living a life full of misery.
She bravely faced all the challenges that life gave her and never yielded to anything as she was committed to just live for her children.