1. Losing Your Adrenalin Gland - Makes You Totally Fearless
The adrenalin gland is what governs fear, stress and anxiety on our bodies. But for Jordy Cernik, the loss of his adrenalin gland makes him impervious to feeling scared. While doing daredevil activities like skydiving, his heart rate doesn't even go up. Cernik was a victim of Cushing's Syndrome, which resulted in his needing a surgery that would remove the gland that produces adrenalin. As a result, he no longer feels the sensation of fear (among other things like stress). Of course, the absence of fear is a pretty dangerous condition to have. Without fear, we are susceptible to dangerous situations that can do us serious harm. But Cernik is content with his situation, and he even raises money for his daredevil activities and donates it to charity. So in a way, Cernik still managed to leverage his superpower into something truly heroic. After going through this list, it's clear that diseases are pretty terrible things to acquire, even the ones that give us superpowers. Still, an awesome origin story would be a Swedish man who has intentionally contracted all of these diseases in order to fight crime with super brainpower, strength, pain tolerance, and an absence of fear. Are there any other absurd diseases out there that could pass as superpowers? Let us know in the comments.
Jon is the author of the Pixar Theory, the narrative that combines all of the Pixar movies in one timeline. You can read more about his random nonsense on jonnegroni.com
