A youngster from India has broken a Guinness World Record for the hairiest face on a person.
Lalit Patidar has a rare condition called called hypertrichosis, or ‘werewolf syndrome’, causing him to grow excessive hair.
The 18-year-old, whose face is 95% covered with hair, says there are those that may be unkind to him, but he’s decided to embrace his uniqueness.
Lalit recently travelled from his home in central Madhya Pradesh state to Milan in Italy to have his hair count measured for the TV programme ‘Lo Show dei Record’.
This involved visiting a trichologist who shaved tiny portions of his face to take accurate measurements of his hairs per square cm, in keeping with the Guinness World Records.
It was then revealed he had 201.72 hairs per square cm, officially making him the ‘The Hairiest Face on a Person (Male)’.
‘Lalit is considered one of only around 50 documented cases [of hypertrichosis] reported worldwide for the reason that Middle Ages, making him one in a billion,’ Guinness World Records said on its website.
The teenager said he was ‘speechless’ and ‘very completely happy’ to be recognised as a world record holder.
Speaking about people’s attitudes towards him, he added: ‘Most individuals are good to me. It depends upon the person. The primary day of faculty wasn’t so good because the opposite kids were fearful of me, but after they got to know me, they realised I’m not so different from them.’
Some people have encouraged him to shave his facial hair off, but he said he had no plans to follow their advice.
‘I tell them that I like how I’m and I don’t want to alter my look,’ he explained.
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