KOSZER (WASP) — According to his physicians, 63 years old Nestor Fedorczuk from the Volhynian village Koszer (near Kowel) is as healthy as a man of his age can possibly be. Nevertheless, he has not slept for more than two decades and is far from happy about it.
He cannot remember the exact year, but the last time Nestor ever slept was sometime at the beginning of the 1980s. It was nothing but a short nap. Since that moment, he has never been able to doze off for longer than a few seconds. "I used to read the minutes of boring Sejm meetings in the hope they would help me fall asleep", Nestor explains. "But as soon as I felt my eyes getting droopy and put the paper aside, I would find myself wide awake again."
Scientists have not yet been able to find a satisfactory explanation for the phenomenon. All therapies and treatments that were meant to put Fedorczuk to sleep have failed. According to his personal doctor, Mordechaj Koszel, he feels good, has no pain whatsoever, is not overly exhausted, and is definitely not sick: "Medically speaking, Nestor is a perfectly healthy man. He is just unable to fall asleep, that's all." Fedorczuk's insomnia may have been caused by earlier diseases, but it is impossible to find out which.
"This has been going on for over twenty years now and I've simply gotten used to it", the insurance broker says. "Now, when everyone else sleeps, I get stuck into a good book. But I have read my entire library already three times now, and I am getting tired of it."