posted April 23, 2004 09:09 PM         

Many years ago a hardworking man took his family from New York State to Australia to take advantage of a work opportunity there. Part of this man's family was a handsome young son who had aspirations of joining the circus as a trapeze artist or of becoming an actor. This young fellow, biding his time until a circus job or even one as a stagehand came along, worked at the local shipyards which bordered on the worse section of town.

Walking home from work one evening this young man was attacked by five thugs who wanted to rob him. Instead of just giving up his money the young fellow resisted. However they bested him easily and proceeded to beat him to a pulp. They mashed his face with their boots, and kicked and beat his body brutally with clubs, leaving him for dead.

When the police happened to find him lying in the road they assumed he was dead and called for the Morgue Wagon. On the way to the morgue a policeman heard him gasp for air, and they immediately took him to the emergency unit at the hospital.

When he was placed on a gurney a nurse remarked to her horror, that this young man no longer had a face. Each eye socket was smashed, his skull, legs, and arms fractured, his nose literally hanging from his face, all his teeth were gone, and his jaw was almost completely torn from his skull.

Although his life was spared he spent over a year in the hospital. When he finally left, his body may have healed but his face was disgusting to look at. He was no longer the handsome youth that everyone admired. When the young man started to look for work again he was turned down by everyone just on account of the way he looked. One potential employer suggested to him that he join the freak show at the circus as The Man Who Had No Face. And he did this for a while. He was still rejected by everyone and no one wanted to be seen in his company. He had thoughts of suicide.

This went on for five years. One day he passed a church and sought some solace there. Entering the church he encountered a priest who had seen him sobbing while kneeling in a pew. The priest took pity on him and took him to the rectory where they talked at length. The priest was impressed with him to such a degree that he said that he would do everything possible for him that could be done to restore his dignity and life, if the young man would promise to be the best Catholic he could be, and trust in God's mercy to free him from his torturous life.

The young man went to Mass and communion every day, and after thanking God for saving his life, asked God to only give him peace of mind and the grace to be the best man he could ever be in His eyes.

The priest, through his personal contacts, was able to secure the services of the best plastic surgeon in Australia. There would be no cost to the young man, as the doctor was the priest's best friend. The doctor too was so impressed by the young man, whose outlook now on life, even though he had experienced the worst was filled with good humor and love.

The surgery was a miraculous success. All the best dental work was also done for him. The young man became everything he promised God he would be. He was also blessed with a wonderful, beautiful wife, and many children, and success in an industry which would have been the furthest thing from his mind as a career, if not for the goodness of God and the love of the people who cared for him. This he acknowledges publicly.

The young man was....and is... .... Mel Gibson.

His life was the inspiration for his production of the movie "The Man Without A Face." He is to be admired by all of us as a God fearing man, a political conservative, and an example to all as a true man of courage.

Solane Star

posted April 23, 2004 09:12 PM         

juniperb

posted April 24, 2004 09:22 AM         

Paul Harvey never did such a story.

http://www.snopes.com/glurge/noface.htm

I work in the media, and people are always sending us this stuff.

When in doubt, or if it sounds unbelievable, always check snopes.com

posted April 24, 2004 12:49 PM         

Ya know, I was trying to figure out when this might have happened to Mel...

I saw him in an old movie on TV recently, called "TIM," and he looked pretty young...like a teen-ager....so I'm thinking well this had to have happened before then, cuz he sure looked good in this movie...*sigh*

Oh well, as juni says, nice story, tho....

posted April 24, 2004 12:55 PM         

....but then, I'm a gullible Pisces stelliem, who just lovess to believe amazing stories like that...*sigh*

posted April 24, 2004 10:42 PM         

There are a lot of good biographies of Mel Gibson available on the net and none of them have anything like the story below. Gibson moved to Australia when he was 12 years old and studied at the National Institute of Dramatic Arts at the University of New South Wales in Sydney. He performed in numerous plays and eventually was cast in the film "Mad Max," which got his career moving. Whomever wrote this (not Paul Harvey) has spent too much time watching movies and not enough time experiencing reality.

Thanks guys for that helpful insight about Paul Harvey, that teachs me to not believe everything that I read. Truly Sorry,but it is a good story, to bad it's not ture.

When A Students Ready A Teacher Will Come!

posted April 25, 2004 05:54 PM         

This Aries girl is sometimes too blunt and abrupt for her own good.

I know you were trying to share something good and beautiful with us. And that was truly lovely of you.

I get annoyed not with people like you, but with the fact that someone somewhere created this ridiculous story just to take advantage of something good in other people.

posted April 25, 2004 08:03 PM         

Thankful for the truth and your
sharing ,all of you. All is one!

Solane Star

posted April 25, 2004 08:55 PM         

Solane Star