History

The real Leäng Yen appeared in an 1839 medical journal article. She had a large tumour surrounding her wrist, which led doctors to amputate her arm. Her supposedly stoic response to the procedure was of considerable interest to British medical men. For more on this topic, see Meegan Kennedy’s chapter “‘Poor Loo Hoo’: Sentiment, Stoicism, and the Grotesque in British Imperial Medicine” in Victorian Freaks: The Social Context of Freakery in Britain, edited by Marlene Tromp (Ohio State University Press, 2008).

Backstory

Exhibited as a “medical curiosity” after developing a large tumour that necessitated amputation of the leg.
Start with £5.