Friday 18 November 2022 02:29 PM 'Werewolf syndrome' sufferer, 17, reveals how he has been bullied all his life ... trends now
A 17-year-old sufferer of 'werewolf syndrome' has revealed he has been bullied all his life due to his rare condition, but vowed to 'always be happy and keep others happy'.
Lalit Patidar is a student from the small village Nandleta in Madhya Pradesh, India. His whole body has been covered in hair from the age of six, when he was diagnosed with hypertrichosis - an extremely rare condition thought to have only been found in around 50 people since the middle ages.
His condition means he has stood out all his life, and as a result he has been called 'monkey boy' by cruel school children who say they are afraid he will bite them.
But despite being bullied, he has spoken of his positive outlook on life, saying that he now has dreams of becoming a successful Youtuber.
'I come from a normal family, my father is a farmer, and I am currently a senior in high school studying in 12th grade. At the same time I help my father in his farming work,' Lalit said.
Lalit Patidar, 17, is a student from the small village Nandleta in Madhya Pradesh, India. His whole body has been covered in hair from the age of six, when he was diagnosed with hypertrichosis - a rare condition
'I have had this hair my whole life, my parents say the doctor shaved me at birth but I didn't really notice anything was different about me until I was around six or seven years old. That's when I first took notice that the hair was growing all over my body like no one else I knew.
'Since then I have found out it is because I have a condition called hypertrichosis. It is rare and as far as I know only fifty people in the world have been affected by this.
'There is no history of hair growth conditions in my family, I am the only one who has this disease,' the teenager said.
Hypertrichosis is characterised by an abnormal amount of hair growth over the body.
There are two distinct types of hypertrichosis: generalised hypertrichosis, which occurs over the entire body, and localised hypertrichosis, which is restricted to a certain area.
Hypertrichosis can be either congenital (present at birth) or acquired later in life.
The incurable condition causes abnormal amounts of fine hairs up to two inches long to grow on a person's face, arms and other parts of their body.
Several circus sideshow performers in the 19th and early 20th centuries, such as Julia Pastrana, had hypertrichosis. Many of them worked as 'freaks' and were promoted as having animal-like traits.
But Lalit leads a normal life despite his rare diagnosis. He attends school and helps on his family's farm, and has begun blogging and creating videos.
His rare condition means he stands out, and as a result he has been called 'monkey boy' by cruel school children who say they are afraid he will bite them. But despite being bullied, he has spoken of his positive outlook on life, saying that he now has dreams of becoming a successful Youtuber. Pictured: Lalit is seen on a computer (left) and with a friend (right)
Pictured: Lalit is seen as a young boy. He says when he was born, doctors initially shaved him, but it quickly grew back. He said he didn't know he was different until around the age of six
Lalit is 'very popular in class and everyone is fond of him,' the headmaster of his government-run school, Babulal Makwana, said back in 2019
'I was not upset when the hair started to grow because I was very young at that time, but my family members and my parents used to worry a lot about me.
'Small children used to get scared seeing me, and as a child I did not know why. As I grew up I realised that my whole body had hair and
