Ellen Sadler Slept For Almost A Decade

On May 15, 1859, Ellen Sadler was born. She reportedly fell asleep at age 11 in 1871 and didn't wake up for nine years.

Newspapers, medical professionals, and people all over the world wrote about the case.

The Beginning

Ellen Sadler was born on May 15, 1859, in the small Buckinghamshire village of Turville. The Sadlers were a big, poor family, and most of them worked on farms. Ellen, the youngest child, lived with her eleven siblings.

Ellen started working as a nursemaid when she was 11 years old in 1870. But when she started falling asleep at work, she was fired.

Ellen had been sick for 13 weeks with "glandular swellings" or an abscess on the back of her head and other signs of a spinal disease. She was subsequently sent to a local hospital where her condition got worse.

Ellen was in the hospital for 18 weeks before she was told she couldn't get better and was sent home. This was in March 1871.

Ellen Sadler Sleeps Non-stop

Ellen had episodes of seizure when she got home from the hospital. After the seizures, she never woke up from her post ictal sleep.

Turville started to see Ellen as something of a tourist attraction. People from all over the country came to see her, including journalists, doctors, religious leaders, and people who were just "plain curious." Many of them gave Ellen's family money to be able to see her. Some people paid to cut Ellen's hair until the hair on her head was almost finished.

Her body temperature was warm, her skin was soft, and her breathing was regular and normal. Her pulse was also rather rapid.

The hands were small and thin, but the fingers quite flexible. The body was somewhat emaciated. Her feet and legs were like those of a dead child, almost ice cold. Her eyes and cheeks were sunken.

Not Everyone Believed

Some visitors didn't believe Ellen was sick and tried to find out if it was a trick by stabbing her with pins, but it didn't work.

Some neighbors were also "deeply skeptical" because Ellen's family was making a "healthy profit" from her illness.

Ellen Wakes Up

Ellen's mother, Ann Frewen, woke up in May 1880. Five months after her death, Ellen woke up five months after her death.

She was "completely healed" by November. Ellen, who was twenty-one at the time, insisted she had no recollection of the nine years prior. With the exception of a "weak eye" and mildly slowed growth, she generally experienced little long-term complications.

What Was Wrong With Ellen?

Narcolepsy- A sleep disorder called narcolepsy causes patients feel extremely sleepy during the day. Narcolepsy patients have trouble remaining awake for extended periods of time. They suddenly sleep off. This could seriously interfere with their regular activities.

Narcolepsy is caused by the lack of a chemical compound called Orexin. Orexin helps wakefulness.

The abscess on the back of her head which was accompanied by other symptoms of central nervous system disease may have affected the part of the brain that makes the Orexin.

Aside from the explanation given above, other possible causes of her condition could have been deliberate drugging. There is also the possibility that the whole thing was a hoax considering it fetched the family huge money and that she woke up shortly after her mother was dead. People have gone extra length to deceive the public and make a living.

Ellen's Later Life

Ellen got married in 1886 to man that was called Mark Blackall. The couple had five children.

The Sadler family residence was dubbed "Sleepy Cottage".