The Compelling Story Of Rudy Santos 'Octoman'

Rudy Santos was a popular performer during the 70s and 80s due to his unusual appearance. Now, decades after his rise to fame, Rudy has disappeared from the public eye and his former celebrity is all but lost.

This leaves us to question, where is he now? And how has his life changed since his brush with fame?

Today, we’ll be exploring the incredible story of Rudy Santos, otherwise known as ‘Octoman’.

Rudy’s Birth and Parasitic Twin

Rudy Santos was born with a parasitic twin - a very rare occurrence. Parasitic twins are also known as unequal or asymmetrical conjoined twins. This refers to a smaller, undeveloped twin, which is physically attached to a more developed twin.

The parasitic twin is often a shapeless mass of tissue and might appear as an extra set of limbs and organs that are attached to the more developed twin.

This condition occurs during the early stages of pregnancy as the embryos develop in the womb. In the case of parasitic twins, the embryos are unable to fully separate. This causes one embryo to fully develop while the other cannot develop.

This is how Rudy came to be with his parasitic twin.

About Rudy Santos ‘Octoman’

Photo credit: Fandom

Rudy Santos, who had the stage name Octoman, was born in 1953 in the Philippines to an extremely poor family. He was born with a rare condition known as Heteropagus (parasitic) twin, which left him with additional appendages and body parts.

Rudy was born with four arms and three legs. He also had two additional shoulders, nipples, and an undeveloped head that was attached to his sternum. The additional head had both ears and a hairy scalp.

Remarkably, Santos is the oldest recorded person in the world living with this condition.

Life and Career

Like most people born with physical deformities in the 70s and 80s, Rudy made his mark as a sideshow performer. Because of his rare condition, he was dubbed Octoman and acted as the main attraction at travelling fairs and circuses.

Because of his appearance, he was quite popular, earning at least 20,000 pesos per performance.

Photo credit: Filipi Know

In the late 80s, Santos retired as a performer and settled down with his wife in Zamboanga in the Philippines. However, after leaving life in the spotlight, the pair fell into extreme poverty.

In order to provide for the family, the couple temporarily separated so that Ruby’s wife could find work as a domestic helper in Manila.

His plights were documented in the GMA show ‘Wish Ko Lang’, which featured the couple being reunited after their long separation. The show greatly helped Rudy and his family by providing them with a sari-sari store business and offering their daughter a college scholarship.

Making the Tough Decision on Being Twins for Life

After decades of living with his parasitic twin, Rudy was examined by Vincente Gomez in 2008. Dr. Vincente was the leading authority on conjoined twin separation in the Philippines. During the examination, Dr. Vincente found ‌surgical separation was still possible and offered the removal surgery to Rudy.

Rudy declined the offer even though the surgery was deemed viable. His reason was he had grown very attached to his twin and wanted to remain conjoined.

At the time of writing this, Rudy and his family are living a quiet, normal life in Zamboanga.

Conclusion

Rudy Santos, known as Octoman, lived an extraordinary life.

People with rare conditions have commonly drawn a lot of media attention, and Rudy is no different. He once made headlines because of his unusual circumstances having a parasitic sibling.

Since then, Santos has moved away from life in the limelight to live a quiet life with his family. For more stories of unusual and amazing people who have graced our earth, check out Phreeque.com.