This is a very sad story about a little girl in China but it does have a happy ending, I promise. A British photo agency, Rex Features, discovered a beautiful little 6-year-old girl in China whose body is covered in thick black hair. At least 70 percent of her body is covered, including most of her back, one arm, and the entire side of her face. The girl appears to suffer from hypertrichosis, or "werewolf syndrome." And because of her strange appearance, the little girl was dropped off at a local nursery as a baby by her parents, who then never returned.
The nursery put an ad in the paper, begging for relatives of the little girl to come forward and help. And guess what? A relative DID come forward and decided to raise her. And the relative is ... A MAN. I don't know, when I was reading this, I just expected it would be a female relative. But nope, it was the grandfather of one of the girl's cousins. Imagine being a man in China -- where people still routinely abort and abandon female babies -- and coming forward to not only take care of a little girl, but a girl who has hair growing all over her body. I just love this grandfather. By the way, he's only 48.
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The grandfather also sends the girl, Liu Mingying, to school. He says he wants to keep doing so, but is starting to become worried about her being bullied. Kids have already nicknamed her "The Little Monkey." Unfortunately, there is no cure for this disease, though the hair can be reduced with treatments.
The media, as well as life, is so often filled with stories of men not stepping up to care for their children, or who care for them improperly, that it was heartwarming to read about a man who stepped up and cared when no one else would.
Were you surprised that a male relative stepped up?
Image via Macinate/Flickr
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Comments 85
Aww she is adorable, poor thing people are so damn cruel. I'm so glad he stepped in and saved her.
Hell, I agree with amie irwin. We don't know how this "grandfather" is. Is he living along or is the grandmother there? Apparently, not. Hope she won't be the subsitute. Men have a history of "playing" with young female relatives, and especially those in a vunerable way. I hope he is as nice as the media is suggeting, but, I have my doubts. I would rather her go to relatives, or someone, where there is a female present...not that that always matter.
Ashley, nobody is talking about your husband! I wouldn't call it disgusting. It's called Concerned.
I was surprised, but it was a nice thing to read about. The parents must have felt overwhelmed by the girl's condition, they could have been ridiculed or bullied to the point that they felt threatened and feared for the safety of their daughter, they cared for her for 2 years, there was no mention of neglect, and maybe it ended up in her best interest.
And people in China do not hate on baby girls. My co-workers in China are all proud to be parents either to a boy or girl,and during the past couple of years, all the births they've happily announced have been girls. Things have changed a lot, Yes there are still areas where male babies are favored, but not all China, or all India. Please do not generalize.
There is an indiference epidemic world wide, with the concept ot "not budding in where we don't belong",many crimes could have been prevented, many kids not been abused, many wives not battered, many houses not robbed, etc....
Not all men are predators. Why do some women think this is true? I suposse CPN322 is single because all men are terrible, look elsewhere.
A woman, in daycare bullied my DD, and guess who defended her? a man, her 17 year old brother went there and faced her, that bitch was so surprised that a guy would go and find out what the hell was going on. I was not aware of this, DD confided in her big brother first, so when my son told his sister was not going back there and told me why I was in shock.