22/09/2025
In 1960, twelve-year-old Howard Dully underwent a transorbital lobotomy at his stepmother’s urging, though few believed he was schizophrenic. Dr. Walter Freeman, the “father of the lobotomy,” performed the surgery with his father’s consent, inserting an orbitoclast through Howard’s eye sockets to sever frontal lobe connections.
Howard awoke disoriented and traumatized. His childhood collapsed—he was removed from his family, cycled through institutions and prisons, and struggled with alcoholism and homelessness.
Decades later, he revisited Freeman’s notes and told his story in My Lobotomy (2007), a haunting memoir of survival. Though he later built a stable life as a bus driver, husband, and father, one question lingered:
“Why did my father let this happen?”...more in our comment 💓🌕💋