Snopes says it’s a true picture and all, but they don’t give a site so I’m not sure I believe them. How is it possible that this guy would have lived long enough for the maggots to hatch?
Snope’s says the following:
I don’t know, I’m just in a state of “I don’t believe this” and I’m wondering if any doctors out there can confirm if it’s possible…
Well, the brain itself has no sensory nerves. You could have an insect (or twenty) crawling on your brain and not feel a thing. However, your brain is covered in the dura mater (Latin: tough mother), which does feel pain (as any migraine sufferer knows). Getting though the dura mater is, well, tough, and you would feel it unless something had killed the nerves beforehand.
Cutaneous mydriasis (larvae in the skin) is a common condition in humans and animals. There is a celebrated photo of an infestation of old world screw-worm fly on the face of a man that has taken out both his eyes, and made its way into his brain.
I unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately, cos it’s really gross) can’t find an electronic copy.
