On September 10th 1945 in Fruita Colorado, Llyod Olsen and his wife were going about daily routine. Olsen would kill the chickens and his wife would clean them up.
(Picture Courtesy https://www.miketheheadlesschicken.org/history)
On this fateful day, one of the chicken instead of lying lifeless on the ground was found running around in the barnyard. Shocked Olsen’s kept the chicken in apple box in the barnyard and decided to check on him in the morning. The following morning, they found the chicken was still alive. Once it was determined that the chicken was going to live, Olsen’s decided to take care of the bird permanently.
He fed the bird milk and water with an eyedropper and fed him small grains of corn. He was called Mike before becoming the famous - Miracle Mike The Headless Chicken. As the word spread about the headless chicken, local newspaper interviewed Olsen. Prompted by the interview in the newspaper, a sideshow promoter Hope Wade enlisted the Olsen’s to be part of the sideshow circuit along with the headless chicken.
Mike along with the Olsen’s made a trip to the Salt Lake City and University of Utah where the chicken went through numerous tests.
Mike’s last tour was in Phoenix, Arizona in 1947 where he breathed his last. He choked on a kernel of corn.
But why was Mike still alive
After the death Miracle Mike autopsy revealed that that the axe did not touch his carotid artery and his blood quickly clotted, thus saved him from bleeding to death.
As many of the basic functions like breathing, heart rate and reflex actions are controlled by the brain stem Mike managed to live for next 18 months.
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