PATCH ADAMS "Father of Laughter Therapy"

Hunter (Patch) Adams is a different doctor. Not only is a clown but believes that "healing can be an exchange of love and not an economic transaction." In 1963, after his uncle committed suicide, the mother of Patch took him to a psychiatric hospital because he too had tried to commit suicide. It was found in the same room with Rudy, a man who suffered hallucinations and was afraid of squirrels. Instead of ignoring him, or yelling to be quiet, Patch Rudy decided to play and have fun. Rudy managed to stop being afraid.

Patch found so it was very easy to relate to anyone. Soon after, he left the hospital and enrolled at George Washington University. Many nights, I used to spend his time behind bars, figuring out why people were imprisoned. And thus also became a political protester and a "conscientious objector" of the Vietnam War. Today it remains a social activist. Anti-Bush policy, against consumerism ... "It is humiliating that a person who kicks a ball earns more than a school teacher," says Adams.

In his time as a medical student, Patch began to dream of a place where patients could go away without having to pay , a friendly, cheerful, where no one feared to be, not as in hospitals, that scare many people. Patch studied medicine for use as a tool for social change.

He was convinced that the health of a person can not be separated from the family health, community and world. And as a result of these beliefs, Patch Adams and some friends founded the Gesundheit! Institute, which operated as a community hospital for 12 years. Later, he had two sons: the elder is called Atomic Zagnut, born in 1975, and Lars Zig, who was born in 1989.

Today, Patch Adams collects donations for the Gesundheit! It has become a highly sought speaker, and all the money you get on the conference (about 11,000 euros), is invested in Gesundheit! In return, Gesundheit! paid a salary of about 45,000 euros a year. It also organizes annual trips around the world with groups of volunteer clowns who have hope, joy and play to orphans, patients, and people.