Tragic four-year-old Bayezid Hossain has been born with an incredibly rare condition that has left him looking like an 80-year-old man.
Bayezid, from outside Magura in southern Bangladesh, also has difficulties passing urine and already has weak and broken teeth.
Children in his village, where he is affectionately referred to as ‘old man,’ were afraid to play with him at first – even though his father says he is much smarter than others the same age.
His devastated parents have been told Bayezid is unlikely to live past the age of 15 due to rare condition Progeria and Cutis Laxa.
His 18-year-old mother, Tripti Khatun, who was only aged 14 when she gave birth to him, is amazed at her son’s mental abilities but is devastated when she looks at him – even saying he “looked like an alien” when he was born.
She said: “Bayezid only learned to walk aged three but he had a full set of teeth at three months old.His physical growth is completely abnormal but mentally, he has wonderful conversation, very aware and is very intuitive for his age.
“He does not look like other children. He looks like an old man. As a first time mother I can’t bear the pain of seeing my child like this.”
‘I was terrified to see him when he was born. He was just flesh and bones. He looked like an alien and it was heartbreaking for me.
Doctors had no idea what to do, they said they had never seen such a baby. They warned us that there was nothing they could do.’
After they returned home news of little Bayezid quickly spread around the village with neighbours lining up outside their home to take a look at Bayezid. But there was little support.
Tripti married Lovelu, who works as a daily wage labourer and earns Rs 5,000 (£50) a month, when she was just 13-years-old.
They are first cousins, which is normal practice in rural parts of Bangladesh and southern Asia
Lovelu said he has already spent approximately Rs 4 Lakh (£4,000) since Bayezid was born on seeing different doctors and healers but nothing has changed for the little boy.
He added: ‘We’ve been to hospitals, shrines, fakirs, shamans— whoever suggested whatever.
Yet his situation remains the same and he’s probably getting even worse day by day.
