How Extreme Hoarding Killed Two Brothers

The Collyer Brothers were a mystery in New York City: rich shut-ins in their own luxurious home, from a prestigious family that ended up in ruin and a curious case of hoarding. Let’s get into it.

Sources:
[The Story of the Collyer Brothers]
[Early Life of Homer and Langley Collyer]
[Disappearance and Death]
[Death and Discovery]
[Other Sources]

[MrPUNK]

The man loved his brother so much he gave up his entire life to help him.

[YuubiTimberwolf]

I dont dare to imagine how the blind brother must have suffered, hearing the crashing of rubble bury his brother, the silent when he calls to him and not being able to help even when being just a few feet away...

[novacorponline]

It seems to me that the hording was not the key problem. It's the most obvious problem, but each major escalation in the story seems to be triggered by people invading and/or attacking the home, leading to an increased paranoia and further isolation from the outside.

[ordinary_magician]

“A story of one of New York City’s prestigious families whose prestige eroded over the years and eventually ended in tragedy”
Sounds like my grades when I was going from middle school to high school

[notablediscomfort]

Yeah this is just a sad one. Basically two kids that have lost everything they cared about tried to stay positive and be a good influence on their community and then one got sick and they decided to hunker down where they felt safe. You could make an emotionally brutal movie or mini series based on these guys.

[Solesteam]

Thats sad... if it weren't for those traps set to ward off people who kept trying to break in. this wouldn't have ended like that...

[shjondrew]

That brother had some mad dedication when you think about it.

[Nova_Avali]

Can we just take a second to talk about how they took apart there car so the car could also be inside the house, that's a whole new level of hoarding I didn't know excited

[ADarkType]

what a sad way to end a life. Mere feet away from your brother that took care of you for years, unable to help or even see him.

[kristacss]

brews voice is just like so full of emotions but also monotone (two contradictory words, i know)

[Onlyonedch]

These poor brothers. Give them not your disgust or your pity. Pray for these brothers. That lived in a time where medical science was still young and people where less understanding of mental illness. One thing for sure is these brothers loved each other. And that's what matters in the end. God rest their souls.

[etourdie]

I've been trying to figure it out, and I think I finally know why your drawings of real people feel off to me. You try to draw them realistically, but to make them more cartoonish and stylized, you leave the noses off. For me, the amount of effort you put into the rest of the face is what puts them solidly in the uncanny valley

[PlutoIsntReal_]

I can't even imagine having to hear your brother's final moments, and not be able to do anything to help him at all, even when you're sat only mere feet away.

[treeofwolf]

It's not because they had some sanity disease. It's because people kept trying to rob and attack them, in their home, they had no safe place to even eat and sleep, terrified to go out and be assaulted, while even journals lied about them and made them targets. They didn't do it to themselves. People in society did it to them. Forced them to made traps out of garbage to prevent assault and lived in constant terror until their body fell apart, and they died too scared to call for help. Shame on you society, you're still doing it.

[supersophisticated]

I have to say that the collyer brothers sounded really cool. Setting traps, being frugal, reading so many books, caring for each other. So much stuff. They had a complex life, and I think that's the last thing you should take away from this. You're just not supposed to know about other's lives when they get this complex. Only they could know.

[senselessmole]

I like how brew casually talked about how their parents were cousins

[Butternubs]

Thank you so much for the captions!! I'm hard of hearing and have a processing disorder. It's so rare to find proper captions on the videos I enjoy, so I cant thank you enough

[yuno]

Respect to the brother for taking care of his other brother.

[livenotonevil]

I'm just gonna go ahead and applaud this video in advance.

[floramew]

Ouch, that's tragic. I'm introverted and have hoarding tendencies, and... in general I can really relate to the story you've shared this time.