Book excerpt: Following twenty years of close friendship with author Wilbert Smith, Vertus Hardiman reveals the truth about his horrifying experience hidden since age five. His life is a moving example of humility, success, and achievement while enduring long standing suffering. The story tells of Vertus Hardiman and nine other children, each attending the same elementary school in Lyles Station Indiana""who, in 1927, was severely irradiated during a medical experiment conducted at the local county hospital. The experiment was misrepresented as a newly developed cure for the scalp fungus known as ringworm. But in reality, the ringworm fungus was merely the lure used to gain access to children whose unsuspecting parents blindly signed permission slips for the treatment. Vertus was age five and the youngest. As remarkable and shocking as the story may appear, it is not an indictment on inhumane government-sanctioned medical experimentation. Rather, Hole in the Head: a Life Revealed reflects the incredible strength of one man who survived the harshest imaginable circumstances through the power of who and what he was determined to become. His simplicity and life philosophy always lifted the spirits of those he touched. Remarkably, not one person in Vertus's community was aware of his suffering because he always wore a wig or woolen beanie cap to hide his shame. He stated, "For over seventy-one years, only four individuals outside a few medical specialists have ever seen my condition. I hide it because I look like some monster." But in reality, Vertus was the kindest example of human love Wilbert had ever met""always choosing love over hate and success over excuses and failure. This incredible story inspires us to change our outlook on life, while teaching the true meaning of love, forgiveness, and acceptance. Journey with us through this rich and unforgettable story