Siblings suffer from condition making them look old

A brother and sister in India suffer from a rare condition that leaves them looking many years older - just like Brad Pitt’s Benjamin Button film.

Keshav Kumar, 18 months, and his 7-year old sister Anjali Kumari, have wrinkled skin, suffer pain in their joints and swollen faces.

The siblings are teased for their looks and are often stared at on the streets. They dream of looking like other children their own age - but doctors say their condition has no cure.

Little Anjali told MailOnline how she gets called names at school.

She said: ‘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.

'The children in school call me names like daadi amma (grandmother), budhiya (old lady), bandariya (monkey), or hanuman (a Hindu monkey lord) and it annoys me. I want to be treated like a normal kid and I want to be accepted for who I am.

’I really wish I could look as pretty as my sister. My parents hope that I will be okay one day but it makes me feel sad that my family suffer and feel embarrassed because of me. My only wish is for a cure. I want to live a long pain free life.’

The siblings suffer from a rare form of Progeria as well as a disease called Cutis Laxa, which doctors in India say is incurable. 

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

The family is extremely protective of the children. ‘We’ve tried to get help from our local doctors but they have told us our only hope is from overseas,’ said the father, a laundry man, who earns INR 4500 (BD25) per month.

Anjali was just six months old she was rushed to hospital with pneumonia.

‘After she recovered from, the moisture in her body just seemed to dry up and her skin loosened,’ added Shatrughan.

‘We took her back to our doctor at a government hospital but they said there’s no cure for her and her life was in the lord’s hand.

Five years later  Keshav was born, and  they noticed he too suffered the same condition as his sister.

‘We haven’t taken Keshav to any doctor because we know he has the same as his sister,’ Shatrughan said.

‘We’re a poor family and doctor visits are expensive. They couldn’t do anything for Anjali so we knew they couldn’t do anything for Keshav either.’

Shatrughan spends over 500 Rupees (BD3) a month on homeopathic treatment for Anjali and Keshav but it doesn’t seem to be having much affect.

‘I can just about afford homeopathic medicines which I hope eases their ailments but I just can’t afford allopathic medicines,’ he added.

‘I just hope someone can give us some answers. I am helpless. I feel very sad that I do not know what to do to help my children. I see them ageing faster than me and there is nothing I can do about it. It breaks my heart. I am praying for a miracle.’