World of the Bizarre Dispatch

Man Who Was Being Eaten by Maggots Dies
The Associated Press
Wednesday, July 27, 2005; 7:46 PM

YONKERS, N.Y. -- A 63-year-old man died a day after emergency workers found him at his home in such squalid conditions that maggots were eating his flesh, a fire official said Wednesday.

Paramedics went to Michael Link's home Sunday night after his 66-year-old brother and roommate, Adam Link, said the victim was having trouble breathing, fire department surgeon Roger Chirurgi said.

Michael Link was lying in his own feces on a pile of debris and "had open wounds with maggots eating on the flesh," Chirurgi said.

Link was taken to a hospital, where he died Monday, the surgeon said. His brother was undergoing psychiatric evaluation.

The home, a large Victorian across from a school, was overgrown with trees, shrubs and weeds. Inside, paramedics found no electric power and papers and boxes everywhere, Chirurgi said.

Firefighters wore hazardous-materials suits to investigate the house after the brothers were taken out. Chirurgi said several veteran firefighters were sickened by the scene and stench.