Amou Haji, an Iranian man and the ‘world’s dirtiest man’ who refused to take a shower for over half a century, has died at the age of 94, months after he finally bathed.
Gatekeepers News reports that Haji, who did not wash for around 67 years, died on Sunday in the village of Dejgah in Iran according to IRNA news agency.
A short documentary film titled ‘The Strange Life of Amou Haji’ was made about his life in 2013. Haji had avoided showering over fears that it would bring him bad luck and make him sick. But ‘for the first time a few months ago, villagers had taken him to a bathroom to wash,’ a local official told the Iranian state media.
‘Not long after, he fell ill and finally, on Sunday… he gave up his life,’ IRNA reported.
Haji, who was covered in soot and dirt, had an aversion to soap and water. He said he hated even the thought of bathing.
The Iranian has previously said that he chose this eccentric way of life after experiencing ’emotional setbacks in his youth’. Since then he became isolated.
Haji also had an aversion to fresh food and drink. His favourite food was rotten porcupine, and he would choose to drink five litres of water a day from a rusty oil can. He would often collect water from nearby puddles.
Haji would also eat roadkill and also liked to smoke animal faeces out of an old pipe, rather than tobacco.
He had spent most of his life in Dejgah village in the province of Fars in southern Iran where he had no wife or family.
Concerned locals built him an open brick shack to live in after seeing that he was sleeping in a hole in the ground.
The locals also decided to convince him to take a shower a few months before he died following reports that he was lonely and that not washing made it difficult for him to make friends and find a female companion.
Despite his aversion to not washing, eating rotten meat and drinking dirty water, his health remained robust until recently.
Earlier this year, a team of doctors, led by Dr Gholamreza Molavi professor at the Tehran School of Public Health, reportedly ran a series of tests on Haji, including tests for HIV and hepatitis.
Dr Molavi was astonished to find that Haji had not suffered from any bacteria or parasites apart from Trichinosis, a bacteria that comes from eating raw meat and causes a common infection. But Haji did not suffer from any symptoms.
Dr Molova concluded that Haji was able to remain healthy for so many years because he had developed a strong immune system after decades of living in extremely harsh conditions.
