A 16-year-old boy has been cruelly dubbed ‘devil’s child’ by his neighbours after developing a rare syndrome that caused his hands to grow into huge ‘Hulk hands’.
Mohammad Kaleem suffers from a kind of localised gigantism that means just one of his oversized mitts weighs eight kilos (17.6 lbs).
The condition, called Macrodactyly, is extremely rare and affects just 300 people worldwide.
It has left poor Mohammad with hands so outsized that the distance between the wrist and forefinger on one of his hands is 24 inches (61cm).
The condition typically leaves patients suffering with overgrown bones, skin, and other tissues. Organs and limbs can also grow out of proportion to the rest of the body.
Doctor S Raja Sabapathy, who has treated Mohammad, said the condition is called local gigantism because it only affects certain parts of the patient’s body and is one of just a handful of cases reported each year.
Mohammad, who comes from a small village near Bokaro Steel City, Jharkhand State, India, was called ‘Devil’s child’ by locals as a youngster.
The deformed boy was reportedly shunned by villagers for his Hulk-sized hands and was never admitted to school because other children were scared of him.
The boy’s father Mohammad Shamim, a daily wage labourer, took him to undergo an operation on his hands about 10 years ago.
Mohammad was dubbed the 'Boy with the World's Biggest Hands' before he underwent surgery to try and reduce them.
However, instead of helping the lad, the surgery allegedly caused his hands to grow larger and more deformed, resulting in even greater problems.
Mohammad’s relatives said he has a lot of difficulty carrying out his daily chores and even needs help feeding and bathing himself and is reliant on family members to help him.
Meanwhile the world’s tallest man, Sultan Kosen, who has whole-body gigantism - has been in the news recently looking for love.
Mr Kosen had a tumour affecting his pituitary gland, which caused him to suffer from gigantism and acromegaly - a condition where the pituitary gland produces too much growth hormone.
Thanks to his impressive height, he holds the Guinness World Record for tallest living man at 251 centimetres.
Last year, Sultan, 39, travelled from Turkey to Moscow in his search for a wife willing to bear him a son and a daughter.
The 8ft 3in tall farmer has spent months trying to find the woman of his dreams but finally admitted defeat this week.
But the globe-trotting giant isn't done yet - he says he has money on his side and has now jumped on a plane to America.
