The man who sees demons: Truck driver with extremely rare neurological condition only sees contorted human faces

22 March 2024, 08:18

The extremely rare condition only allows him to see distorted versions of human faces
The extremely rare condition only allows him to see distorted versions of human faces. Picture: A. Mello et al.

By Asher McShane

A US truck driver woke up one morning horrified to see his flatmate’s facial features ‘stretched’ as if he had the face of a demon.

Listen to this article

Loading audio...

Victor Sharrah, 59, was in his flat in Clarksville Tennessee when he saw his flatmate walking to the bathroom and his face appeared horribly distorted.

“It was like something out of a Star Trek movie, like a demon face,” he said.

He described the room-mate’s appearance as ‘goblin-like’ with a distended mouth, stretched eyes, flared nostrils, pointed ears and deep grooves all over the face.

He later left the house to walk the dog and everyone’s face appeared like this.

Read more: UK 'could cut off arms to Israel in a week', Tory foreign affairs committee chief says, amid fears for civilians

Read more: Women ‘owed’ £36bn in compensation payouts after government’s state pension age blunder, WASPI chairwoman says

“I was really freaking out at that point. I was going to go have myself committed.”

A new study in The Lancet says Mr Sharrah has one of the rarest neurological conditions known to medical science - prosopometamorphopsia, or PMO. Only 75 cases have ever been ­recorded.

It affects the area of the brain that controls facial recognition. PMO causes faces to appear distorted.

It can result from a head injury, ­ischemic strokes, migraines and epilepsy. There are fewer than 100 published case reports of PMO.

Researchers suggested two possible triggers for his case.

He suffered carbon monoxide poisoning four months before his PMO symptoms started. He also had a significant head injury at age 43.

While he was trying to unjam the handle on his trailer, he fell and hit his head on concrete.

According to the study, MRI scans showed a lesion on the left side of his brain. 

Scientists do not fully understand what causes the condition.

 Some cases have been linked to head trauma, stroke, epilepsy or migraines, but other people develop PMO without obvious structural changes in their brains.

Brad Duchaine, a professor of psychological and brain sciences and principal investigator of the Social Perception Lab at Dartmouth, said: “We've heard from multiple people with PMO that they have been diagnosed by psychiatrists as having schizophrenia and put on anti-psychotics, when their condition is a problem with the visual system.”

More Latest News

See more More Latest News

People thought to be migrants board a small boat leaving the beach at Gravelines, France, in an attempt to reach the UK by crossing the English Channel. Picture date: Saturday May 31, 2025.

Starmer 'loses control' on immigration as 1,200 migrants cross Channel in a day

US prosecutors allege Miller was working with a Chinese national to illegally acquire weapons systems and other classified equipment for the Chinese government.

British businessman 'caught spying for China' faces 40 years in US prison after FBI sting

Dani captioned the post of the newly weds 'The Bowens'

Love Island's Dani Dyer and West Ham captain Jarrod Bowen tie knot in 'Bridgerton-inspired' ceremony

Paris St Germain sweep aside Inter Milan to win Champions League

Paris St-Germain thrash Inter Milan with record 5-0 win - becoming Champions of Europe for the first time

A group of people thought to be migrants onboard a small boat leaving the beach at Gravelines, France, in an attempt to reach the UK by crossing the English Channel. Picture date: Saturday May 31, 2025.

Coastguard resources 'stretched thin' by migrant rescues as fishing boats urged to help yacht in trouble

Hamas leader Muhammad Sinwar was killed in an Israeli airstrike

Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar 'eliminated' in airstrike on tunnel under south Gaza hospital, IDF confirms

Brandon Moore is a rugby league player.

Rugby league star missing as wife issues desperate plea to find father of three

Thicke and his long-term partner tied the knot in a lavish ceremony in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

'Through Thicke and thin': Robin Thicke gets hitched to model April Love Geary in Mexico after seven-year engagement

Police officers look at the remains of a crashed plane on the terrace of a residential building in Korschenbroich, Germany, Saturday, May 31, 2025. (David Young/dpa via AP)

Two people die after small plane crashes into house in Germany

Aziz Ziriat had been hiking in the Dolomites with his friend.

Body of British hiker missing in Italy since January found at foot of mountain as family praise rescuers' 'commitment'

Emergency services were called to Frith Road, Croydon, just after 9am on Saturday and treated two injured people at the scene.

Woman in her 20s stabbed to death in 'tragic' incident in Croydon as man arrested on suspicion of murder

WFP distribute flour to Palestinians struggling with hunger in Gaza.

Dozens of UN food lorries 'blocked and emptied' by desperate Palestinians

Hamas has agreed to release 10 living hostages and 18 bodies in response to the US' Gaza ceasefire proposals.

Hamas demands changes to US Gaza ceasefire plan - as US envoy Steve Witkoff slams 'totally unacceptable' proposal

Emergency services responded on Friday to a report of two children, a boy and a girl, who were facing difficulty in the water near the Royal Terrace Pier in Gravesend, Kent.

Body found in search for missing girl who vanished in the River Thames as rescued boy remains in stable condition

Pete Hegseth, U.S. Secretary of Defense, at NATO headquarters

Pete Hegseth warns Chinese invasion of Taiwan could be 'imminent'

Michael Mosley died while on holiday with his wife on the Greek island of Symi last year

Michael Mosley's family set up research project in his memory after TV doctor's tragic death on Greek island