Monday, 31 October 2016

Francisco Domingo Joaquim

“World’s Widest Mouth Ever” by the Guinness Book of World Records.

Francisco Domino Joaquim’s mouth is so wide that he can squeeze a whole can of soda pop into his jaw without any hassle at all!

Francisco Domino Joaquim’s chops measure 6.69 inches across, and his super rubbery yap has propelled him into the public consciousness as the Guinness Book of World Records has now recognised it as being the widest on the planet.

Aged just twenty, Francisco Domino Joaquim was known for a long time in his country as the Angolan Jaw of Awe.

But he never really had to test his elastic skills until he entered the Big Mouth competition held annually in Rome.

In Big Mouth, participants have to stuff their gobs with numerous everyday items that range from coffee cups and saucers, to beer bottles and cans of pop.

And indeed nobody could beat the Angolan Jaw of Awe who managed to squeeze an entire can of coke in his cake hole sideways.

Francisco Domino Joaquim - who is known by his “stage name” Chiquinho - first found fame locally when he performed his talent on the streets of Angola. He became a minor star on YouTube, and it was here that Guinness Book of World Records found out about his astounding feat and got in touch.

But it was really on Italian TV when he shot to global fame. He managed to pop a can of soda in and out of his mouth an incredible fourteen times in a single minute.

Friday, 28 October 2016

Teenager has tongue is the size of a TENNIS BALL

A teenager with a tongue the size of a tennis ball fears going to sleep every night - in case he chokes to death on the huge organ.

Krzysztof Wegrzyn, from Grojec, Poland, was born with a haemangioma - a benign tumour in the blood vessels of his tongue.

Two attempts were made to remove the growth when he was a child but both had to be called off because of massive blood loss.

Condition: Krzysztof’s tongue is the size of a tennis ball

Struggle: The teenager is hoping to have life-changing surgery on his tongue

Now 18, Krzysztof’s tumour has grown so large it is close to blocking off his airway and he is struggling to speak.

But despite his problems there is still a chance he could live a completely normal life.

Krzsysztof explained: “I saw a boy from Norway who underwent an operation there and he looked great. You could not see that he had ever been ill.

Growth: Krzysztof’s condition makes it difficult for him to breathe

"This is my biggest dream but I do not want to be disappointed.”

His family are now trying to raise £48,000 for a trip to the Zentrum Klinik fur Vasculare Maltformationen in Eberswalde, Brandenburg, Germany, where specialist doctors can remove the tumour.

If he gets the life-changing treatment, Krzsysztof said he would want to finish his studies, pass his driving test and see his dream of becoming a chef come true.

Sunday, 23 October 2016

Julie Pastrana

An indigenous woman who toured Europe as “the world’s ugliest woman” was recently buried in her home nation Mexico - an incredible one-hundred and fifty years after she died.

Throughout her life, Julie Pastrana struggled with a genetic condition that deformed her looks and landed her circus work as a freak of nature.

When she died in 1860, her husband continued to tour with her embalmed body.

Born in 1834, Julie Pastrana’s face was covered with hair.

She also had a jutting jaw, and was mocked for begin an “ape woman” and a “bear woman.”

“Imagine the aggression and cruelty of humankind she had to face, and how she overcame it. It’s a very dignified story,” commented Sinaloa Governor Mario Lopez.

In 1850, Julie married an American impresario named Theodore Lent, who got her jobs in freak shows, in which she would dance and sing for audiences.

She died just a years later, not long after giving birth to a son who inherited her condition, and who survived just a few days.

Despite her death, Lent refused to give up on the income her looks were bringing in and he toured with both his wife and his son’s dead, embalmed bodies.

The gruesome tale didn’t end there. During a stay in Norway, the corpses were stolen and dumped.

The police recovered them and they were placed in storage at University of Oslo.

It was in 2005 when Julia Pastrana’s story came to the attention of Mexican artist Laura Anderson Barbata, who began a campaign to bring Julia’s remains home.

“I felt she deserved the right to regain her dignity and her place in history, and in the world’s memory.”

Crowds gathered to witness Julia Pastrana’s homecoming. “A human being should not be the object of anyone,” said Father Jaime Reyes Retana in an address to mourners.

Sadhu Amar Bharati

26. Sadhu Amar Bharati

We’ve all felt a bit of arm ache after carrying heavy bags of shopping over long distances, but maybe few of you will complain less about muscle burn after reading about Sadhu Amar Bharati, an Indian holy man who says that he has held his right hand aloft since 1973.

This means that his hand has been held in the air for an incredible forty-three years.

After being held aloft for so long, his hand has turned into a scrap of skin and bone - and is completely useless.

Despite this, it Shiva worshippers have turned it into a symbol of discipline and devotion.

Until the start of the seventies, Sadhu Amar Bharati was just a middle-class Indian who lived a regular life like everyone else.

He had all the usual things: A wife, a home, a steady job.

He even had three children.

But all of this paled into insignificance when one day he woke up and decided he needed to leave it all behind to dedicate his life to Shiva, a Hindu god.

From then on, he wandered the roads of India, wearing nothing but simple clothes and carrying only a metal trident.

In 1973, after three years of wandering, Sadhu Amar Bharati decided he still had too many connections to the luxuries of modern life and decided he needed to make some sort of sacrifice.

That sacrifice was to raise his right arm - and keep it held aloft.

43 years on, Sadhu Amar Bharati is still dedicated to serving his god, and his right arm is still held in the air.

But even if he wanted to lower it and use it again, he can’t. It’s become completely useless.

Observers believe he rose his right arm in protest against all the destruction and chaos in the world, but he maintains that he did it as a symbol that he was ready to renounce his earthly possessions and serve his god.

Abigail And Brittany Hensel

Meet Abigail and Brittany Hensel, conjoined Minnesota twins who deal with more struggles in a single day than many of us do over a lifetime.

It wasn’t long after they were born that their mom and dad were given the devastating news that their twins were conjoined - and that they might not survive much longer.

The tenacious pair beat the odds, and are living happy lives aged 23.

Viewers have been given a portal into their world thanks to a TV show - Abby and Brittany - which shows viewers how tough living as a conjoined twin actually is.

Abby and Brittany are incredibly rare. Firstly, a person has a 1 in 40,000 chances to been born conjoined.

Secondly, only 1% of conjoined twins survive after birth.

The sisters, who have two years, an incredible four lungs, two spines and a shared liver, were became conjoined when a fertilised egg did not separate inside their mother’s womb.

It was a fluke of nature - and it’s a miracle that they survived it.

The girls can only feel one half of their body, but they are sill able to play the piano, volleyball, softball - and they can even ride a bike and swim!

Although they were born with three arms, one arm was removed when they were born. They have undergone surgery numerous times, but both girls are in good health.

Their mom and dad have always wanted them to develop their own unique personalities, but they still have to work as a single body - even though they would love to be able to eat and sleep at different times.

Abigail and Brittany have not only had to live with each other, but they’ve also lived a life largely in the media

Polydactylism

Polydactylism, or the disease where extra fingers or toes are present on the body, is considered to be one of the more common diseases within the development of birth. One out of every 500 children have Polydactylism. The extra finger or toe tends to be nothing more than soft tissue with no bone. Surgery to remove the extra digit is the only option.

Accelerated Aging Syndrome

Source

Progeria or the Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome 3 is a disease in which children begin to look elderly even before they’re two years old. There is no disruption in intellectual development or motor skill development and the effect are mainly physical.

Children with this syndrome develop characteristic prominent eyes, a thin nose with a beaked tip, thin lips, a small chin, and protruding ears. They start looking like old people as in hair loss, aging skin, joint abnormalities, and a loss of fat under the skin. They experience severe hardening of the arteries (arteriosclerosis) beginning in childhood that lead to heart attack or stroke at young age. Unfortunately, this is a life threatening condition.

Wednesday, 5 October 2016

Rare ageing condition - Progeria

This newborn baby has the looks of an 80-year-old after being born with rare condition

A boy has been born with a rare ageing condition that makes him more like a pensioner than a baby.

The tot was born with progeria, which has left wrinkles on the boy’s face, hollow eyes and extremely shrunken body.

Doctors in Magura, Bangladesh, are stunned at the condition of the baby.

One said: “The baby does not look like a newborn at all.

“There are prominent sings of ageing such a excessive wrinkles and rough skin texture.”

Despite his unusual look, the boy’s parents are ecstatic with the birth of the “miracle” child.

Dad Biswajit Patro said: “We can only thank God. There is no need to be unhappy about the appearance of my son.

“We will accept him the way he is. We are so happy to have a baby boy in the house.”

He added: “We have been getting a lot of visitors. Relatives, neighbours and even people from neighbouring villages have come to see our son.

“We are happy to host them all.”

Biswajit and wife Parul Patro already have one daughter and hope their new addition will grow up to be a healthy boy.

Doctors say the boy will do well for the time being but they are unsure what measures will be needed in future to treat him.