Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

Dungeon Takes Physical Toll on Austrian Kids

Stooped children hurt by lack of sun and health care, immunity weakened

By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff

Posted Apr 30, 2008 4:32 AM CDT

(Newser) – Doctors have begun to tally the physical toll of a lifetime of imprisonment on the three Austrian children locked in a cellar by their grandfather/father Josef Fritzl. The children all have defective immune systems, are anemic and suffer from a vitamin D deficiency from their time in a 650-square-foot cellar. None had ever seen daylight, a doctor or a dentist before their release, reports the Times of London. The oldest, 19, has already lost most of her teeth.

While three of the six surviving children of Fritzl, 73, and his daughter Elisabeth were brought up as normal children by Fritzl and his wife, the other three were confined in spaces hardly higher than 5 feet, and now suffer from stooped posture. Their only contact with the outside world was via television that was on night and day. The children are now being treated at a psychiatric institute.

Reporters crowd a news conference given by the police on the case of a daughter kept captive by her father for 24 years in Amstetten, Austria, on Tuesday, April 29, 2008.
Reporters crowd a news conference given by the police on the case of a daughter kept captive by her father for 24 years in Amstetten, Austria, on Tuesday, April 29, 2008.   (AP Photo/Kerstin Joensson)
Forensic officers enter the house of Josef Fritzl in Amstetten, Austria, Tuesday, April 29, 2008.
Forensic officers enter the house of Josef Fritzl in Amstetten, Austria, Tuesday, April 29, 2008.   (AP Photo/Hans Punz)
A policeman stands in the gateway of the house of Josef Fritzl in Amstetten, Lower Austria.
A policeman stands in the gateway of the house of Josef Fritzl in Amstetten, Lower Austria.   (AP Photo/Hans Punz)
An aerial view of the building in Amstetten, Austria, top right, with green rooftop garden, where 73-year-old Josef Fritzl imprisoned his daughter for 24 years.
An aerial view of the building in Amstetten, Austria, top right, with green rooftop garden, where 73-year-old Josef Fritzl imprisoned his daughter for 24 years.   (AP Photo/inflight gmbh)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
To report an error on this story, notify our editors.
A snapshot of the day's best news stories.
 
COMMENTS
Be the first to comment on this story.

More Newser Stories

Fritzl Family Will Get New Identities

Fritzl Blames Nazis, Says He Was Trying to Save Daughter

Police Think Dungeon Dad Raped Granddaughter

Fritzl Neighbors Knew He Was Raping Daughter

Dungeon Kids Adjusting to Sunlit World


NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS
Other Sites We Like:   24/7 Wall St.   |   Betty Confidential   |   BuzzFeed   |   Cracked   |   Fark   |   Timelines   |   The Frisky   |   Geek Sugar   |   NewsOne