John Fasel

John Fasel was an American man known for his eating habits. Nicknamed the "Human Ostrich", he was active in New York City and ate metal objects as part of a performance act.

Fasel was born . In June 1899, he was hired as a performer in a freak show. He also worked as an independent performer with his John Fasel Association. He lived in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. and "The Human Junk Shop". He suffered from epilepsy and was hospitalized due to the condition in October 1908 following a seizure where he bit his mother and surgeon Mary M. Crawford.

In January 1900, Fasel was admitted to St. John's Episcopal Hospital for indigestion. Doctors removed three pocket watch chains, twenty-four nails, three keys, five hairpins, 128 pins, and some pocketknives, among other objects. Following the procedure, doctors suggested he change his career, so he then worked as a tailor, He claimed he was coerced by a group of men at a saloon into eating the nails with the threat of violence. After the surgery, Fasel returned to performing, now keeping a compendium of what he swallowed and working more cautiously. Doctors claimed that the objects themselves did not harm Fasel, but their combined weight caused his stomach to sag.