Thursday, December 1, 2011
11:00 AM Keynote Address by Dr. Wilbert Smith, Writer & Producer
7:00 PM Film Screening and Question & Answer with Dr. Smith
Red Skelton Performing Arts Center, Vincennes University
This feature length documentary tells the story of Vertus Hardiman and nine other young children, attending the same elementary school in Lyles Station Indiana who, in 1927 were severely irradiated during a medical experiment conducted at the local county hospital. The experiment was misrepresented as a newly developed cure for the scalp fungus known as ringworm. In reality the ringworm fungus was merely the lure used to gain access to innocent children whose unsuspecting parents blindly signed permission slips for the treatment.
Vertus was five years old and the youngest. Now after 20 years of friendship with writer/producer Wilbert Smith, through their church choir, Vertus unburdens himself to Wilbert with an incredible story, finally exposing the severe physical complication caused by this shocking medical crime. This crime had severe physical complications for Vertus – namely a harshly irradiated and malformed head, with an actual hole in his skull.
Remarkably, not one person in his community had ever been aware of Vertus’ suffering because he always wore a wig and woolen beanie to cover the shame. During filming Vertus reveals his secret stating, “For over 80 years, only four individuals outside a few medical specialists have ever seen my condition; I hide it because I look like some monster.” Over his life Vertus was criticized, teased and scorned by acquaintances that had no idea what the wig had been hiding for 80 years.
Wilbert’s in-depth research led to his discovering four additional survivors of this horrific event. Their collective accounts add breadth and lend credence to this incredible story. Other surviving victims had astonishing similarities, but none as painful or shocking as Vertus.
This documentary reveals that the Lyles Station experiments were not an isolated event. One such example involves radiation experiments performed in Israel in 1951 against one hundred thousand darker-skinned immigrant children, a tragedy financed by the United States Army. Amazingly, many of these victims arrived on U.S. soil in cages for further study, in an attempt to determine human reaction to over-exposure to radiation.
As remarkable and shocking as the story may appear, this film is not an indictment of inhumane government-sanctioned medical experimentation. Rather Hole in the Head: A Life Revealed reflects the incredible strength of one man who survived the harshest imaginable circumstances through the power of the human spirit. His simplicity and life philosophy always lifted the spirits of all he touched.
Over 1200 viewers have taken part in the initial private screenings of this film. Their reactions suggest that it not only encouraged them to more willingly accept the differences of others, but also to accept these differences without undue challenge or debate. Many vowed to think of Vertus and the lessons he modeled whenever they felt the urge to complain.
Enter the story with Wilbert and witness firsthand how Vertus carved his way to happiness, using his huge capacity to love and forgive, perhaps a timely message needed by our world today.
Narrated By: Dennis Haysbert
Directed By: Brett Leonard
Written By: Wilbert Smith Ph.D. & Brett Leonard
Produced By: Wilbert Smith Ph.D.
