There are billions of people in this world and most of them live lives that are so vastly different than ours that it can be hard to imagine. This is one such story, the story of a man who lived life very differently.
Taking a shower or bathing is something that carries across cultures for most people. While people disagree with how many times a week one should shower, the idea that it is something that should happen regularly remains the same.
But Amou Haji had a different idea. He decided to forgo a shower for 67 years. And according to the late Persian man, he had his serious reasons for doing so.
Amou Haji lived in Iran and was a hermit who did not bathe for over 60 years. He was known to have feasted on roadkill and was also said to have smoked animal dung from a pipe.
He hailed from the village of Dez Gah in Iran and was thought to have been born in 1928. While his real name was not known, people referred to him as ‘Amou Haji’ which means ‘old man.’
There is a rumor about him that explains why he became a hermit; he experienced a heartbreak in his life. He was said to have lived in a cinderblock home on the outskirts of the village, and people did not mind his presence.
The only ‘hygiene’ he paid attention to was to burn off the hair on his head and beard with fire once he felt like they were growing too long. His skin and hair were a uniform grey color.
He lived to be a whopping 94 years old, and people agreed that despite his questionable hygiene, he seemed pretty healthy throughout his years.
While it was speculated that the old timer had a fear of water, it was not the case when it came to drinking it. He was said to have drank up to 5 liters a day from a dirty tin can.
As for his diet, he preferred to scavenge for his own food. While people offered him fresh food, he would routinely choose to go and find his own. He even said he preferred roadkill, his favorite being porcupine. He was rumored to eat the roadkill he found completely raw, no matter how rotten or old the meat seemed.
He also had a pipe in which he smoked animal dung. He was also rumored to be a fan of cigarettes and was once pictured smoking multiple of them at a time.
While he had questionable hygiene and a concerning diet, he was reportedly healthy despite all of that. In fact, he died at the age of 94 years old, a few months after villagers had managed to convince him to take a bath.
Dr. Gholamreza Molavi at Tehran University of Medical Sciences School of Public Health had conducted tests on the old man before he passed away. Surprisingly, they found that he had good health despite his lifestyle.
He had, however, contracted trichinosis, a parasitic food-borne disease. Considering he was fond of eating roadkill, this was not surprising. However, it did not affect his health in any substantial way.
