From going decades without food to having X-ray vision, these individuals are true medical marvels.

Real life can be stranger than fiction, as hard as it is to believe sometimes.

These seven wild stories all showcase real humans who have baffled scientists with their extraordinary abilities, and who might just represent humanity taking small steps forward in evolution, for all we know.

Prahlad Jani

Getty Images/ Sam Panthaky/ AFP

This Indian monk claimed he lived without needing any food whatsoever for some 76 years, and while that might be hard to believe, he passed multiple interesting tests.

From being observed in a closed room for 10 days and then a second for 15 days, he suggested that it might be possible to go without normal sustenance, and also didn’t need to use the toilet – hard to believe, but it’s seemingly true.

The monk, who died in 2020, claimed the Goddess Amba sustained him with water through a hole in the roof of his mouth.

Wim Hof

BBC

Wim Hof is probably the most recognizable name on this list, otherwise known as the Iceman. He holds multiple world records for his ability to survive in extremely cold temperatures – crediting breathwork for helping him get through.

He’s done some truly wild things, including staying in ice water for nearly two hours and climbing Everest without a shirt.

Hof’s efforts have hugely impressed some healthcare professionals, who say his meditation and breathwork techniques could be effective at stopping inflammation.

Natasha Demkina

Facebook/Natasha Demkina – the girl with X-RAY EYES

This Russian woman became famous after seeming to be able to diagnose conditions in people just at a glance, suggesting she had some sort of X-ray vision.

This has been questioned repeatedly, though, as her record is far from perfect and involves a fair few misses – but if it’s remotely real, it’s pretty seismic.

David Browning Smith

NBC

David Browning Smith – AKA The Rubberboy – is well-known for being hyper-flexible, able to bend and contort his body into wild shapes and positions that would look incredibly painful to most people.

He suffers from hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, which technically explains how incredibly flexible he is, but that doesn’t stop his contortions from blowing people’s minds.

Stephen Wiltshire

David Levenson / Contributor / Getty

This artist has an incredible photographic memory – he’s been able to look at the skyline of a city and then reproduce it with startling accuracy many times.

Having been tested with even dense landscapes like New York’s skyline, it’s clear that his memory is something truly special.

Ben Underwood

YouTube/Preservation of Media – Documentaries

This young man lost both his eyes to cancer, but then seemed to be able to navigate around the world using a sort of rudimentary echolocation, by clicking his tongue.

While there’s no way to test this since Underwood has since passed away, if he really was echolocating it would be a pretty massive ability.

Ngoc Thai

YouTube/Cuộc Sống Miền Trung

While Ngoc Thai’s claims haven’t been tested nearly as rigorously as some of those we’ve spotlit above, if they’re true then they’re pretty wild.

He says he hasn’t slept a wink in over 35 years and doesn’t feel the need to after all this time. That’s a superpower that many of us normal folks would doubtless love to have on a Monday morning!