[Harkoliar]

interesting, this is not funny thing but wonderful to read on about. i for one didnt know this fact.

as usual i got this from my email.

Subject: FW: beautiful story


This is a beautiful story.
You won't believe who the person is.

Here is a true story by Paul Harvey.
Pass it to anyone who you think would find it interesting and
inspiring.
You will be surprised who this young man turned out to be. (Do not
look at
the bottom of this letter until you have read it fully.)

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 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 his
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
is
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 saw 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.
*
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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.

And to think I admired him before I knew any of this!
He is quite a man!

Paul Harvey