‘Modern problems require medieval solutions’: What happened to the Turkish man who banished his head to a cage and gave only the key to his wife?

Addictions, am I right? We’ve all got our vices. But while some of us battle the bulge or the Netflix autoplay, others face far more serious demons (Lamar Odom knows a thing or two about that). Like smoking, the nicotine-fueled monster that claims millions of lives each year.

Yet, one man chose a radical approach to confront his own battle. Ibrahim Yücel, a Turkish father of three, went to extreme lengths to kick his two-pack-a-day habit. And by extreme, I mean the man put his head in a cage. That’s right, a cage. For his head.

As per The Mary Sue, it all went down in 2013 in Kütahya, Turkey. Yücel, haunted by the memory of his father’s smoking-induced lung cancer death, knew he had to quit. After all, smoking is one of the leading causes of preventable deaths worldwide, claiming the lives of over 8 million people each year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). And Yücel had seen firsthand the devastation it could cause.

After puffing away for over two decades, Yücel’s willpower was no match for his nicotine cravings. So, he channeled his inner MacGyver and crafted a helmet-inspired “head cage” out of 40 meters of copper wire. Each morning, he’d strap himself in and hand the keys to his wife and daughter, effectively putting himself in a self-imposed prison.

But beyond the initial “wow” factor and nods to his determination, one has to wonder — how did he manage daily life? Sipping water through a straw and nibbling on crackers sounds like a scene from a bizarre diet show. And what about social interactions? Did he just nod emphatically from behind his copper confines? The tale sparked a fresh wave of interest, with users eager to discuss the unconventional smoking cessation method. 

One Reddit user succinctly summed up the situation:

But the Reddit peanut gallery wasn’t content to simply tip their hats to Yücel’s unorthodox methods. They had questions — so many questions. Chief among them:

A user on X, though, wasn’t convinced it “worked”:

Back to Reddit — no thread of course would be complete without quipping angsty lyrics reminiscent of a ’90s alt-rock classic:

Nearly a decade has passed since he became a symbol of drastic self-control, and yet, in 2024, we’re still left to wonder what became of him and his unconventional method of battling addiction. Since the cage came on, the updates went off. The internet’s relentless news cycle moved on, and Yücel’s story faded into the background. I like to imagine that somewhere in Kütahya, there’s a storage unit filled to the brim with discarded copper wire and the faint scent of stale tobacco. Part of me hopes that Yücel emerged victorious. Unfortunately, the complete story might forever be a mystery, given the scant internet coverage about him.