The World’s Most Surreal People and Their Stories

Today, we have better understanding about the medical or genetic conditions that may cause physical differences in one’s shape, size, and appearance. While some people are born with unique differences, others try to deviate from the norm through cosmetic surgeries and other lifestyle changes. Here are a series of stories behind some of the world’s most fascinatingly unique individuals.

The reason why gymnastics is typically a sport for young people is all about the ligaments. As we age, ligaments harden a bit, which makes us less flexible over time. Zlata’s ligaments don’t have that same disadvantage. It’s likely that she’ll be this limber for the duration of her life.

With 0% body fat, Tom is one of only eight people to have Myelodysplastic Preleukemic syndrome. It’s a condition that renders him incapable of keeping even the smallest amount of fat on his body. Perhaps that makes for less wind resistance and improves his abilities as a cyclist. Either way, he chooses to go through life focusing on enjoying physical endeavors.

Born with a rare condition, Mohammad’s hands were double that of his peers. As he grew, his hands grew faster and eventually, it was tough for him to walk around with them by his side. After traveling a great distance to be treated, he was able to get the surgery needed to actually use his hands.

As it turns out, similar to select athletes, Liam has a condition where his body puts together muscles at a speedy rate. That almost eliminates fat from building. He’s definitely one to watch as he gets older!

Despite two distinct personalities inhabiting one body, they have their own internal organs and, obviously, brains. Having to create a life separate from your sibling would be impossible, since it takes two hands to text or two legs to walk somewhere different. Luckily for them, they also shared the same passion for education and are now school teachers.

Talk about making the most of what you’ve got. Nick is a model and artist. His painting style? You guessed it! He uses his tongue to create unique originals that could be viewed as abstract, but fun to watch, art. This human tongue twister put that talent to use by auditioning for America’s Got Talent. He didn’t make it, but he gave everyone something to talk about.

That fascination followed her into adulthood and Valeria decided to make the look her own. Now a model in her native Ukraine, she is living to embody classy fashion as well as keeping her Barbie-esque figure.

Abandoned at birth due to an issue with his lower half, Zion was shuffled around a lot growing up. It wasn’t until it was suggested to him to try wrestling that he found a greater purpose. Not having legs had no impact on his ability to take down opponents. As he continued on, he grew in strength and is now a professional wrestler. After seeing other athletes find him inspiring, he decided to become a motivational speaker as well.

Taylor Muhl has a condition called chimerism. Basically, she originally had a twin that didn’t make it past the fetus stage. She then absorbed what was left and picked up that twin’s genetic coding. People with the disorder have subtle showings of it, so it can be undiagnosed for years. All in all, Taylor is able to live a normal, healthy life.

It may not be as extreme, but Rolf is probably a lot more relatable than most would expect. Tattoos and piercings can be a way of expressing oneself. We hope the 453 piercings he has truly brings him all the happiness in the world.

It’s called Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory and it enables a person to remember every minute detail of their existence. There are only about 100 people alive who can do this and as Joey would say, it’s not as fun as it sounds. The amount of anxiety one can get from keeping so much in their brains is exhaustive. However, he’s using it to help others by participating in research studies.

Taking pride in your appearance is one thing. But growing your hair so long that it surpasses a ladder, that’s a world record. Asha’s dreads have become so popular that she’s even gotten to share her hair and secrets on TV shows and news networks across the nation and beyond.

Ten-year olds are cute and often get their cheeks pinched for it. However, when you’ve been “ten” for 20 years, it’s no longer cute. In fact, it could be viewed as downright annoying. Shin is a fully functioning adult and has no developmental issues. By all intents and purposes, he’s a grown man. It just so happens that he has highlander syndrome that keeps him from aging above his current ten-year-old look.

Thankfully, we have advanced as a civilization and treat conditions with greater care. Yu gets to live out his life in China as a respected member of society with thick hair that covers his body almost entirely.

Coming to you straight from Sin City, The Dutchess, as she’s known in Vegas, takes great pride in her nails. It’s been over 30 years since she has pulled out a pair of fingernail clippers and that might be the last time. While the singer never meant to break a record, she has no intention of stopping now.

Well for Thai Ngoc, that’s the story of his life. Thai considers himself to be an extreme insomniac and reported that he hasn’t slept for 46 years straight now. He uses his spare him doing hours more of heavy labor rather than getting a good night’s rest.

Do not try this at home should have been posted on his jacket. Imagine someone trying to top this crazy achievement and losing their teeth. No, thanks. Velu told local news that he was able to pull over half a million pounds by an extreme form of meditation that he used to put all his focus on his teeth and mouth. That mental discipline provided him with the strength to set records.

She developed what is referred to as “Foreign Accent Syndrome”. Basically, someone who just starts speaking with a foreign accent with no real explanation. While it can lead to depression, the condition has been exceedingly rare over the past half century. Julie can be found sounding South African, French, or Italian.

Patrick got the help he needed and even lost well over half his body weight. He was going through too many changes for his heart to keep up with and he unfortunately passed away, but not before inspiring others on their own journeys.

Going almost six decades without taking a bath or shower has an unbelievable impact on your skin. Amoo is rough to the touch and often devours rotten meat he finds. Luckily for people who do bathe, he is a wanderer who seems to enjoy having the freedom to do what he wants away from society. It clearly works for him, he has lived well into his 80s.

Audrey spends her time crocheting breasts in a variety of colors and sizes. She spends the time making sure each one is rich and squishy, which is exactly the consistency to give lessons on breastfeeding. What a wonderful way to give back to women in need.

Standing at a whopping eight feet and three inches, Sultan’s bones have elongated to an extent that makes it difficult for him to get around. Fortunately, he has support from his community in Turkey and is able to function normally, for the most part.

The native of Nepal could easily be mistaken for a babydoll, given that he was under two feet tall. He may have been vertically challenged, but that didn’t stop Chandra from living a long and happy life. He passed on at age 75.

Living in a time that provides her with more opportunities as a person with limited height than she may have had in the past, Jyoti is making the most of it. She’s using that big, bright smile to get into acting. She even got a job on American Horror Story.

Yekaterina is six foot nine inches and has used that to her advantage in many ways. First, she played basketball at the professional level for a number of years. She was so good, in fact, that she was able to take her talent to the top stage in athletics, the Olympics. After winning a medal, Yekaterina now models full-time.

As the first year of life came and went, they started to notice something unusual. Brooke wasn’t aging. After tests were run, the doctors came to one conclusion: she had a condition that they hadn’t seen before. She lived twenty years inside the body of an infant. Hopefully, her existence will lend new knowledge about the condition to science.

Ōrora Satoshi knew where to find his people when he decided to join the sport. From an outsider’s perspective, you might believe that someone who is more than twice the size of most other sumo wrestlers would have a clear advantage. Oddly enough, that did not prove to be the case. The 645-pound Soviet Sumo had to go into early retirement after not winning a single match.

For many reasons, it’s good that corsets are no longer made from whale bone. That means they are likely more comfortable than they were a century ago, but probably not enough for most women to be interested in getting to a 16 inch waist, like Michèle has. As interesting as it looks, if she took it off, it would soon go back to normal.

Getting her eyes to pop out of their sockets has solidified her place as a record holder. She can push them almost half an inch out! If that’s not the best trick for a mom when she’s mad, we don’t know what could be.

At almost 100% capacity, there is barely any room left for a new idea. That might not have stopped Julia from coming up with additional work to already represented images on her body. Unfortunately, she passed away but the mark she left on the tattoo world will not be forgotten.

Not only did he reach all the surface area, he got work done on the inside of the eyelids. Can you imagine how much planning it went to come up with that many designs? Let’s hope all the effort was not in vain and that he feels more at home in his body than ever before.

Deadlifting 1,155lbs is basically a superhuman feat. It’s also one that Žydrūnas trains to increase daily. Weighing in from Lithuania, he’s a power lifter full time, so, don’t be surprised if he does break his own record. The only thing heavier than the weight he lifts is his ego.

Over time, those parts of the body harden into oblivion and are rendered useless. Whitney started to experience this at nine and has slowly become more impaired. She has help with mobility but is looking forward to treatment when it’s fully developed in the future.

Remember the image of the famous reality star, Kim Kardashian who took a picture with a glass on her behind? Well, Mikel can place an entire pot of tea on hers, including the cups. She’s going the extra mile to be able to make them even bigger. They currently come in at around eight feet from one side to the next.

From an early age, Francisco realized he had more elasticity than his classmates. As kids do, when they pull their mouth to the side to stick out their tongue, he could stretch out so much further than the rest. If it was a contest, he’d win 100% of the time. As he got older, he knew this was something remarkable and the Guinness Book of World Records confirmed it. At seven inches wide, he holds the record.

One day, Paul was innocently attempting to treat a skin condition with colloidal silver. Unfortunately, being outside in the sun caused an adverse reaction that irrevocably turned him blue. To his credit, silver is no longer allowed in over-the-counter medication.

That started a journey that eventually led to her being tattooed on 95% of her body. For a time, she held the world record as being a woman with the most. Her interest expanded into piercings, implants, and much more. María dispels any stereotypes about professionals with tattoos, as she’s a lawyer and owns her own tattoo shop.

If you were to look at her from the waist up, you’d see someone who looked normal. However, Mandy’s legs have a genetic mutation that causes them to grow exponentially. There really is no end in sight. Due to the attention she received from local news, awareness has spread, which hopefully in the future will help the medical community make discoveries for those suffering.

The Iranian weightlifter has been obsessed with bulking up for years. Long before he picked up weights, it was an interest and he became dedicated to seeing how far he could push the envelope of his muscles. He takes his physical training and nutrition very seriously and hopes to continue expanding over time.

In an effort to look more like the wild cats that roam across the African continent, Jocelyn went in for procedure after procedure. Catching her husband in the midst of an intimate moment with another woman, she left him and continued her look-altering surgeries independently.

Although this unique and perfect condition does not have a name, it deserves to be on our list. However, the shorter thumb has a condition known as Brachydactyly, which causes his right thumb to be shorter.

He was also born with the most amazing blue eyes that can catch the attention of anyone. The blue eyes are a result of a condition known as ocular albinism. This boy’s combination of fantastic body features is such a sight to behold.

Despite her condition, Clement is the physical embodiment of joy. Tayla stated “I now know I was born to stand out. I was born to make a difference in this world and I know that whole-heartedly. My syndrome and not being able to smile is the greatest gift I could have ever been given, it has allowed me to already help and inspire so many people”.

As you can tell by the name and ingredients, it’s a massive meal. So, who has eaten the most of them? That honor goes to Wisconsin resident Donald A. Gorske. In 2018, he ate his 30,000th one – after nearly 46 years of eating them daily.

However, she didn’t stop there. By January of 2019, her total number of piercings reached 11,003. She not only holds the record for most piercings, but also the record for holding that record longest!

Turner has Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a very rare medical condition that results in very stretchy skin – his stomach can go out to 6.25 inches! Although the stretching isn’t painful to Turner, his joints often ache.

Etibar Elchiyev currently holds the world record for putting the most spoons on a human body. The picture above shows him in Tbilisi, Georgia in December of 2011 when he managed to hold a total of 50 spoons on his body.

Like most people on our list, this model has gone through stigma and ridicule in school as a child. However, while growing up, she has found a way to embrace this condition and make the most out of it.

The uncomfortable hair syndrome makes the hair frequently break from the root, which can be painful for a little girl. The hair looks interestingly beautiful, though. Surprisingly enough, Shillah has embraced the condition that makes her look like a cute, little lioness.

Her name is Elisany da Cruz Silva and her height truly makes her unique. She is 6 feet and 9 inches tall.

Zoe and Lucy, who live in Ballymena, County Antrim in Northern Ireland, are just one of three sets of twins in the entire world to have FOP. The girls parents both notice at birth both girls were born with small bony lumps on their toes. This is a common sign of FOP, however, doctors didn’t detect it until the girls were older.

Bradford Cox of Deerhunter was born with this disease, and he has been very outspoken about the physical challenges he has encountered throughout his life. Fortunately, this has not prevented him from following his musical career to date.

The model came to prominence after participating on the reality television show America’s Next Top Model, and she has since worked with major companies such as Victoria’s Secret, Marc Jacobs, Fendi, and Nike.

Ava has a condition called albinism and is a naturally gorgeous child. It makes sense that she has caught the attention of the modeling and acting world.

Chauhan kept his mustache growing for 40 years before the Guinness Book of World Records decided to see how long it got. When they measured it in March 2010, it was 14 feet long! It takes an hour of daily grooming to maintain.