Kenny Easterday

American amputee (1973–2016)

Sarah Easterday 1992

(m. 1994, divorced)

Kenneth Easterday (December 7, 1973 – February 12, 2016) was an American man born with the rare disability, sacral agenesis. To improve his mobility, his legs were amputated at the hip when he was six months old.^[1]

Life and career

He was born in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania.^[2] The amputations took place in two stages. The first amputation surgery took Easterday's shin bones, which were used to replace his missing spinal column. At the time of Easterday's first amputation surgery he was only expected to live six months to one year. At six months of age, Easterday underwent a second and final amputation surgery, which involved amputating the rest of his remaining legs at the hips.^[3]

Easterday gained some notability following the 1988 release of the Canadian movie Kenny (1988), in which he played a fictionalized version of himself.

He was a regular on The Jerry Springer Show in which he functioned as "The Messenger". He was also the focus of a 2010 TLC special^[4] titled The Man with Half a Body.^[5]

Easterday died on February 12, 2016, aged 42.^[6]

References

^ "Man With Half a Body Subject of New Documentary". FOX News Network. April 5, 2010. Retrieved February 15, 2016.
^ Blank, Ed (September 19, 2004). "Area native relished making film about West Aliquippa boy". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Retrieved February 15, 2016.
^ Pongracz, Melanie (March 13, 2014). "Kenny Easterday". Prezi. Melanie Pongracz. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
^ "The Man with Half a Body — Paternity Test (YouTube video)". The Learning Channel. April 2, 2010. Archived from the original on December 14, 2021. Retrieved February 15, 2016.
^ "The Man With Half a Body". ABC News. Retrieved February 15, 2016.
^ Tennent, James (February 16, 2016). "Kenny Easterday dies: Man with half a body famed for Jerry Springer appearances dies at 42". Retrieved January 5, 2018.