• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Man born with half his body missing due to Chernobyl radiation says his mum abandoned him

Home> News

Updated 04:16 24 Nov 2022 GMTPublished 04:11 24 Nov 2022 GMT

Man born with half his body missing due to Chernobyl radiation says his mum abandoned him

Tim Mason's mum left him at an orphanage because she 'did not want to raise a monster', but he's living his best life.

Rachel Lang

Rachel Lang

Tim Mason isn't letting anything hold him back.

He is missing both his legs and one arm thanks to the high levels of radiation his birth mother was exposed to during the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.

Advert

The 25-year-old told Good Morning America his biological mother abandoned him in a Moscow orphanage as she 'did not want to raise a monster'.

The orphanage harboured fears he would never find a loving home, but, despite missing half of his body, Tim found his true mother in US woman Virginia Mason.

"She knew I would be fine as I looked over and made fish faces at her," Tim said.

Tim moved to the US when he was three and initially used prosthetics as a child.

Now he's an adult, he's ditched them as they didn't 'feel like him' and refuses to let his disability get in the way of living his full, independent life.

Tim and his mum Virginia.
SWNS

Advert

He documents it all on TikTok, sharing his hilarious take on life while showing the world he's just like any other 25-year-old guy.

Most recently, he's been documenting his new passion: getting swole at the gym.

'One Limb Tim' - his words, not ours - lost a staggering 18 kilograms in 2021.

"Exercising is an amazing hobby," he said after his epic weight loss.

"I use the treadmill for about 10 to 30 minutes and I do my own version of weightlifting and crunches."

Advert

The Connecticut man revealed that he fields a lot of questions on social media on how he manages to work out despite his condition.

He had a clear message about that, though.

"Exercise is for anyone," he said. "People don’t realise that I’m not just sitting in my room as a triple amputee."

Tim lives a full life and loves walking his dog.
SWNS

He revealed his fitness journey has kept him 'healthy both physically and mentally'.

Tim revealed he does cop a lot of hate, but throughout his life he has learned how to keep calm and carry on.

Advert

"There is a lot of doubt in what I can do. It can be discouraging," he said. "But I am here and making it through."

He added that he appreciates the kindness that social media can also bring.

"I have seen so many positive comments and it means the world to me," he said.

The 25-year-old added that people are sometimes afraid to ask questions, but there is one query in particular that he fields quite often.

"I am frequently asked how do I go to the bathroom which I find hilarious," he revealed.

Featured Image Credit: SWNS.

Topics: Chernobyl, Health, Russia, US News, Good News

Rachel Lang
Rachel Lang

Rachel Lang is a Digital Journalist at LADbible. During her career, she has interviewed Aussie PM Malcolm Turnbull in the lead up to the 2016 federal election, ran an editorial campaign on the war in Yemen, and reported on homelessness in the lead-up to Harry and Meghan’s wedding in Windsor. She also once wrote a yarn on the cheese and wine version of Fyre Festival.

X

@rlangjournalist

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

4 hours ago
5 hours ago
  • 4 hours ago

    World's 'first flying car' is going on sale much sooner than you think

    Flying cars are still something for the future, but apparently the rapidly approaching future

    News
  • 5 hours ago

    Experts issued warning over certain tattoo colour that could increase risk of deadly disease

    There can be some long-term health risks to going under the tattoo needle

    News
  • 5 hours ago

    Man who didn't sleep for a record 264 hours suffered from horrendous and potentially deadly side effects

    He smashed the record but suffered dangerous side effects in the process

    News
  • 5 hours ago

    The targets Iran could strike as it issues chilling threat to UK amid ongoing conflict

    The world isn't feeling particularly safe right now

    News
  • Chernobyl scientists discover black fungus feeding on deadly radiation in 'film plot waiting to happen'
  • Doctors baffled by ‘most complex case ever’ as man loses half his body weight
  • Tourists pose for photo on one of ‘most radioactive items’ inside the Chernobyl exclusion zone
  • Man tries to open 'one of the most dangerous objects in world' in Chernobyl to see what happens