The Unfortunate Case of Mr. Charles Osborne

When was the last time you hiccupped? And how long did it last---a few minutes, or maybe even a few hours? Hiccups, or hiccoughs, are spasms of our diaphragm, which is a muscle that separates the chest from the stomach. Hiccups affect all of us and can be annoying; however they only last a short per...

When was the last time you hiccupped? And how long did it last---a few minutes, or maybe even a few hours? Hiccups, or hiccoughs, are spasms of our diaphragm, which is a muscle that separates the chest from the stomach. Hiccups affect all of us and can be annoying; however they only last a short period of time for most people. But for one man, Charles Osborne, his hiccups lasted a whopping sixty-eight years! **One heavy pig** In 1922, while working as a farmhand in the USA, Charles tried to weigh a pig. The animal weighed almost 160 kg, which is about the weight of 32 full school bags! While lifting this heavy weight, Charles fell over and had the hiccups from that point onwards. Doctors believe that, at the time of his fall, Charles burst a small blood vessel at the base of his brain. Although he did not seem seriously injured, this burst blood vessel prevented his brain from 'turning off' the hiccups. Another possibility is that the fall caused an injury to his lower ribs and diaphragm, which was responsible for the ongoing hiccups. **Living with the hiccups** Despite the hiccups affecting his eating habits and sleeping patterns, Charles did his best to live a normal life. He married twice, had eight children, and continued to work. Charles even learnt a breathing technique which softened the sound of the hiccups, to make them less obvious to the people around him.** ** **The hiccups vs. Charles** There are many reported cures for hiccups, such as holding your breath, standing upside down or being scared. Over the years, Charles tried these and many more, without any luck. His friends even tried to scare him by firing a shotgun right behind him! Although he did admit to feeling a little scared, the hiccups persisted. Charles even received treatment at a medical clinic which took at least five hours to travel to and back. Although the results were good at first, and the hiccups disappeared briefly, they always came back. Charles visited the clinic four times before he eventually gave up. **Record holder** To this day, Charles holds the record for the longest time spent with the hiccups, spanning a 68-year period between 1922 to 1990. It is estimated that Charles hiccupped approximately 420 million times during his life. His peculiar situation was shared in newspaper reports, and he was even a guest on TV talk shows. Although the hiccups were out of his control, it is still an amazing feat!** ** **The end of an era** Just as quickly as they started, Charles woke up one morning in 1990 to find that his hiccups had disappeared. No-one knew how or why, but it must have been a good feeling for Charles. He lived hiccup-free for over a year before he passed away at the age of 96. Although he couldn't shake the hiccups for many years, Charles had made the best of an unfortunate case.