Inside Stephen Hawking's Secret Hell: Nurse Alleged He Suffered Torture & Abuse
Stephen Hawking had a brilliant mind, but he couldn't explain the mysterious and serious injuries he seemed to suffer on a regular basis.
The famed wheelchair-bound astrophysicist, who passed away at age 76 on Mar. 14, had been treated at a local emergency room near his estate in Cambridge, England, on several occasions, including for a cut face, torn lip, black eyes and a broken arm and wrist.
The genius scientist refused to ever comment on his odd injuries, leaving friends concerned foul play could have been involved, reported The National Examiner.
And Hawking only added to speculation when he once explained he fractured his hip after falling from his wheelchair, even though police and doctors were left baffled since the A Brief History of Time author was almost completely paralyzed from his battle against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, and other neurological issues.
However, officials were forced to abandon their investigations after conducting multiple interviews with Hawking's circle of workers, friends and others.
"Despite a police investigation, we have found no evidence to support these allegations but should anyone have evidence which will help to corroborate them, we would ask them to come forward and we would conduct a further investigation," officers noted in a statement in November 2000.
In 2004, the scientist's nurses reported their concerns Hawking was suffering emotional and physical abuse at the hands of his former nurse and second wife Elaine Mason, who he married in 1995 and divorced 11 years later, in 2006.
One caregiver, who spoke with The Times on the condition she not be named, alleged in a shocking 2004 interview Mason "gets angry and has thrown him on the bed where he kicks his limbs or hurts himself. She allowed him to slip down low in the bath so the water goes in the hole in his throat."
"She has left him in the garden without his computer mouse so he cannot talk and call for anyone," continued the nurse. "She gives him lots of verbal abuse and calls him a cripple and an invalid, which depresses him."
"She would withhold the bottle he used to go to the toilet so he wet himself, which he does not like because he is a very dignified person and a very private person. The verbal abuse is unbelievable. Her mouth is like a sewer. We got so used to it we forgot it was not normal behavior."
Hawking again denied the allegations and no charges were ever filed against Mason in the matters.
However, Hawking's son, Tim, said at the time he found the claims of abuse could have had merit.
"I believe quite strongly that it's true, based on what I have been privy to in the past," he said. "It makes me feel sick, as I'm sure anyone would be in my position. I feel completely helpless. He denies it every time I speak to him and I would hope he would respect me enough to tell me the truth."
Jane, Hawkin's ex-wife and Tim's mom, agreed with her son, saying, "The situation is far worse than any of us imagined."
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