Dillard's parent's were poor and of self-admitted low breeding. But like any parents, they wanted to see their little Dill have a better life than they themselves were provided. His mother in particular was keenly sensitive to her son, and this would make it very hard on her whenever they had to drop Dillard over the wall into the Monkey Island Exhibit. They could not afford conventional day care and had to "make due" according to his father. Dillard's mother was most always opposed to the idea, as she was scared the monkeys might steal her child, "bein' half sasquatch and all". But perhaps the primate mix in Lil' Dill did evoke a reaction from the monkeys, as Dillard complained, (at first) that the monkeys were touching him inappropriately. The monkeys handled Dill quite roughly in fact as his mother would discover occasional bruising about his buttocks, even though she did not see signs of penetration, she was still worried about her child. She brought her fears to the attention of Dill's father who would always dismiss it as "harmless monkey rough-housing". His mother's fears would be confirmed however, as a very serious accident was about to happen.
It started out as a normal day in early spring 1953. Young Dillard's parents had dropped him off at monkey island as they had to spend the weekend in jail. On occasion, to make ends meet Dill's father would pimp his mother on the docks. Delia secretely looked forward to getting pumped by strangers, as their sexual relationship had ceased years ago due to Cy's infatuation, and eventual obsession with plastic blow-up sex dolls. Dillard had just finished suckling at a mother apes teat when the alpha males began their "rough-housing". The monkeys were laughing and enjoying themselves immensely as they mercilessly pinched, slapped, and bruised the young boy. As Lil' Dill desperately tried to get away from their administrations, he slipped on some feces, fell into the protective moat and cracked open his soft infant skull, spilling his brains out onto the pavement.
Dillard, barely alive, was discovered 45 minutes later when a keeper arrived to feed the monkeys. He rushed young Dillard to the infirmiry where a skilled veterinarian assessed the damage. The Zoo keeper who found Dillard did not notice that the monkeys had the young boy's brain, and were fighting over it for some reason. Dillard's brain was missing. But as luck would have it, a young baboon had gone rabid and was to be destroyed. The brilliant animal doctor, Max Von Schnucks made a bold move and transplanted the rabid baboon's brain into the boy.
His parent's were grateful for Dr. Von Schnucks decisive and daring action in saving their son's life. His mother also thought they owed a debt to the baboon community, and commisioned a local artist to sculpt a commemorative statue to memorialize the young, rabid, baboon who gave its life so their son might have a brain. After this incident his father was finally convinced of the dangers inherent in letting monkeys babysit Lil' Dillard and they ceased the practice, opting instead to leash their son to a tree outside the house, with food and water bowls, along with a toilet brush for him to play with.
