History of medicine: Ferdinand Waldo Demara

Also known as

• Ferdinand Waldo Demara Jr.
• Fred
• The great imposter

 

Life

• 1921: Born in Massachusetts, United States of America.
• 1937: Joined Cistercian monksks on Rhode Island.
• 1941: Joined the United States Army.
• 1942: Went AWOL. Assumed first false identity. 
• Met a doctor called Joseph C. Cyr. Assumed his identity and worked as a trauma surgeon aboard a destroyer (warship) in the Royal Canadian Navy during the Korean War. 
• The deception was discovered and he was quietly dismissed without punishment. 
• Worked a chaplain until diabetes mellitus and heart failure hospitalised him.
• 1982: Died in California, United States of America (aged 60).

 

Great feats

• Assumed countless false identities and tried countless professions.
• Working as a new trauma surgeon, with no experience in science or healthcare, he was able to rapidly learn from medical textbooks and perform the procedures. He successfully treated many patients, and none of the surgeries resulted in death.