Incredible story of 'the world's dirtiest man' who lived to 94 after going 60 YEARS without washing, enjoyed smoking his animal dung-filled pipe and eating rotten porcupines... then died after locals convinced him to have a shower

Before his death, 'Amou Haji' was known as the 'world's dirtiest man' - and with good reason.

At 94 years of age, the dirt-covered Iranian - from Dejgah village, in Fars province - had gone more than 65 years without a shower.

He lived in an open brick shack, survived off a diet of rotting porcupine, and developed a habit of smoking animal dung and drinking water from a rusty oil can.

He explained his eccentric way of life as the result of undisclosed 'emotional setbacks in youth', claiming to have become averse to washing, fresh food and drink, fearing it would make him sick or bring him bad luck.

The tragic irony is that, in the end, it was only after concerned locals 'took him to a bathroom to wash' that he 'fell ill and finally... gave up his life', the IRNA news agency reported upon his death on October 23, 2022.

'Amou Haji' - an affectionate name given to elderly people - lived an extraordinary, and certainly unique, life on his own. 

The specifics of his younger life are less well known, but in older age it was clear he had become venerated by his peers.

Amou Haji (meaning Uncle Haji, with Haji being an honorific for people who have completed the annual Hajj pilgrimage to the holy site of Mecca) was believed to have gone as long as 67 years without washing with soap or water before his death. 

It was locals who claimed he had undergone 'emotional setbacks' in his youth, causing his revulsion towards hygiene.

When the world took interest in his unique manner of living, reports speculated as to whether he had been disappointed in love or feared illness.

In any case, Amou Haji defied the odds to live more than nine decades on his unusual and stomach-turning diet of roadkill.

His favourite food was rotten porcupine, and he would choose to drink five litres of water a day from a rusty oil can which he collected from nearby puddles.

Rare insight into his hermit lifestyle showed how Amou lived and would sleep in a hole in the ground, until concerned neighbours built him a brick shack.

The rudimentary shack kept in touch with Amou's simple aesthetic, left open and surrounded by mounds of stones and dirt that had built up over the years.

Perhaps in a gesture of goodwill to those who built it for him, he continued to spend his time between his hole and the brick shack, as reported by the BBC. 

In Iran's cool winter months, he was known to wear an old, decaying war helmet to keep his head warm.