Children suffer rare skin condition which makes them look decades older

Children suffer rare skin condition which makes them look decades older

Mangalore Today News Network

Jharkhand, Feb 03, 2016: Meet the real-life Benjamin Button siblings who suffer from a rare skin condition which makes them look decades older.

Anjali Kumari is seven years old and her baby brother, Keshav Kumar, is just 18 months - but their wrinkled skin and swollen faces belie their young years.

 

Right: Keshav is just 18 months old....  Left: : Anjali wishes she could look like everyone else

The children suffer from a rare form of Progeria, a genetic disorder which causes the body to age at a much faster rate than normal.

The siblings also have a disease called Cutis Laxa, which doctors in India say is incurable.

Anjali and Keshav live in Ranchi, Jharkhand, with their father, Shatrughan Rajak, 40, mother Rinki Devi, 35, and older sister daughter Shilpi, 11, who do not have the disease.

The youngsters are teased for their looks and stared at in the street.

Anjali told MailOnline: "I know I’m different from others my age. I have a different kind of face, a different body, different everything.

"I have a swollen face while the rest of the world looks normal. People always stare at me and pass bad comments."

Rare condition: The children have been left with very wrinkly skin

The schoolgirl says she is called names like ’daadi Amma’ (grandmother), ’budhiya’ (old lady), ’bandariya’ (monkey), and ’hanuman’ (a Hindu monkey lord).

Their parents desperately hope for a cure but doctors in India have told them their only hope is to seek medical help abroad.

Dad Shatrughan, who earns 4,500 Rupees a month (£45) as a laundry man, told MailOnline: "We dream there is a cure for my children.

"People in our community call them ‘old’ and it’s heartbreaking. We’ve tried to get help from our local doctors but they have told us our only hope is from overseas."