We all must have stayed up all night to complete our pending work or to study one day before the exam, and just as that work or exam finishes the only thought that runs through our mind is that ‘I need sleep’. We become so tired that we can’t stay awake even if we want to. But if we tell u the story of such a person who didn’t sleep for 90 years, then what will be your reaction? because scientifically, it is impossible for a human body to function after 80 hours of no sleep. So, how did this wonder happen that someone didn’t sleep for 90 years? This story is of Al Herphin who didn’t sleep for 90 years.
Alfred Herpin born in France in 1862, and lived in Trenton, new jersey claimed to have developed a rare case of insomnia, where he could not sleep. But no one believed this claim. In the 1950s, there was fast-paced technology, but rarely anyone had a mobile phone. So, if anyone had proved anything then it was mandatory for them to go to that place. This is why many people reached Albert’s house. When people reached his home. they saw that there was no bed at his house but, there was only one chair.
Albert claimed that when others sleep at night, he used to sit on a rocking chair and read the newspaper. He started becoming very famous in the 20th century and people’s curiosity about his story also increased. This thing has increased so much that in 2017, an author named Robert Quinn wrote a book on it named, “The man who never slept.” In this book, it is written that if Albert Herpin was saying the truth, then we can give him the title of superhuman because not sleeping is not the capability of a normal person. Scientists have not yet found such a human or rather an animal who has never slept.
According to the scientists, Albert was a victim of Paradoxical Insomnia. In this illness, people feel like they are awake but in reality, they are sleeping. In this illness, it happens that a person is aware of their surroundings and they don’t sleep. But, when their brain waves were studied it came out that yes, that person was sleeping.
Through this, we can conclude that Al’s claims can be true to some extent. From these how much is truth and how much is the lie, only time will tell us.
–An article by Stuti Shukla
