Meet the world’s biggest albino family - a British clan of 15
6,341 次觀看・2 年前
Meet the world's biggest albino family - a British clan of 15 who said their condition has brought them closer together.
Aslam Parvez, 64, and wife Shameem, 65, both have white skin due to the condition - and so do all their six children, and some of their siblings, nieces and nephews.
But NONE of the most recent generation of the Asian family inherited the condition - meaning they are all a totally different skin colour to their elder generations.
The family, who live in Coventry, Warwickshire, and Exeter, Devon, said life was tough growing up, due to bullies and discrimination.
But Naseem Akhtar, 42, eldest child of Aslam and Shameem, said the family are proud of their identity, and want to educate people on the condition.
The mum-of-three said being part of such a large family all sharing the same condition has eventually brought them closer together.
They are awaiting confirmation from Guinness World Records, but believe they are the biggest family to all have albinism, beating the current record of four.
Some 17 of the UK-based family were born with albinism, although two have since died.
NHS rehabilitation officer Naseem, from Exeter, Devon, said: "Throughout our lives, my family have put up with a lot of bullying and discrimination for the way we look and who we are, as well as having to cope with sight loss.
"As a family, we never fit into the community - we had dog poo on our doorstep, our windows were smashed, and we even once had fireworks pushed through the letterbox.
"But now I'm proud of who we are - people will always have things to say, but you don't have to listen.
"I'm very passionate about educating people about this condition so they can understand what it is, and the impact it can have on the lives of those affected.
"I just want people to know we have overcome our challenges together and the pandemic has brought us closer.
"I applied for us to get in the Guinness Book of World Records because we are such a unique family and I do believe it's something that should be marked in history."
When Aslam was 11 his family moved from Pakistan to the UK, and later he and his brother were matched in marriage with Shameem and her sister - both who had albinism.
Each parent had one sibling with albinism - although Shameem's sister passed away.
And Aslam's brother had seven children, four who have albinism, although one passed away.
Two of the parents' non-albino siblings also had albino children - three in total coming from non-albino parents - bringing the total up to 15.
Naseem said she and her siblings, all partially sighted, had a challenging childhood.
Ghulam, 40, Haider 38, Muqadas, 36, Musarat, 30, and Mohammed, 27, were bullied at school and mosque, and their house was targeted.
She said: "As kids, we would never be invited to birthday parties. We were always the last people to be picked for school sports teams because of our sight loss.
"We were constantly rejected from groups - none of us really had any friends.
"People at school and in the street would refer to us as 'P*ki albinos' which was so offensive.
"Even at the mosque, within our own community, people would steal our shoes whenever we took them off to pray. I often walked home barefoot."
She said her self esteem and confidence plummeted and added: "We had people who posted fireworks through our letterbox and left dog poo on the doorstep.
"We even had our windows broken.
"We lived in constant terror, as well as shame."
Naseem, who is married with children Dylan, 11, Oliver, nine, and Grace, six, works in a sight loss rehabilitation service.
Back in Coventry, all of her siblings also went on to start families of their own.
They drifted apart but said they grew close again during video calls over lockdown.
Between Naseem and her five siblings, they have 14 children - NONE of which have the recessive genetic condition - oculocutaneous albinism (OCA).
She said she is proud of her identity - but glad the next generation of the family don't suffer sight loss, which is caused by an absence of pigment in the eye's iris.
She said: "Just like any disability, sight loss is not easy to deal with, no matter how optimistic you are."
She is awaiting official confirmation from Guinness.
The record is currently jointly held by two families from Canada and the US, each with four siblings with albinism.
Naseem says she hopes to educate others on the reality of life as an albino and inspire people to overcome their challenges.
She said: "I've always tried to promote positivity about albinism - even though we loo very different and can't see, doesn't mean we're less of a person or don't have the right to have a good life.
"After so many years of being put down and feeling like you don't fit in anywhere, it has a huge impact - but you have to learn to overcome negativity.
"We can't change who we are, so we should see it as a gift.
"We have been through a lot of bad experiences but we need to put the past behind us and ultimately we have come out as a family, stronger than ever.
"I want people to know that even if you don't fit in in the world, you are still important and can leave your mark on the world - and never lose hope."
相關影片推薦
- 1:18美馬戲團大象逃脫 穿梭車陣民眾驚呼 馬路秒變野生動物園Yahoo奇摩(國際通)26,325 次觀看・21 小時前
- 6:11強震來臨這3個縣市最危險 李鴻源曝災防都更因「票房毒藥」難行今天誰來沛158,427 次觀看・18 小時前
- 1:53加拿大史上最大黃金盜竊案逮6人 加航「內鬼」偽造空運單 400公斤黃金恐已熔化售出Yahoo奇摩(國際通)14,853 次觀看・16 小時前
- 1:13柯建銘質詢一半突喊「我看不到」計時器 透露眼睛病變華視影音7,887 次觀看・19 小時前
- 1:1126歲抗癌網紅因胃癌去世 生命最後5個月沒吃沒喝娛樂星聞56,720 次觀看・2 天前
- 1:15謝和弦不認偷吃陳芳語嗆前妻記錯人!自爆出軌對象是「她」秒遭Keanna打臉娛樂星聞3,607 次觀看・9 小時前
- 2:02英國女遊台南「喝全糖珍奶」 嚇壞驚呼:天大錯誤華視影音292,422 次觀看・1 天前
- 23:55台積電法說會登場 投資人關心加碼美國新廠風險 但面對拜登和川普搶當美國保護主義隊長 川普幕僚密謀促貶美元 拜登祭301調查要提高中國商品關稅 台積電等於買了保險|鏡轉全球 #鏡鏡新聞616 次觀看・11 小時前
- 1:39男童"騎單車"上快車道 暖心民眾放慢車速"殿後"護送民視影音36,438 次觀看・15 小時前
- 2:22世界最小核潛艇 法國老牌「紅寶石級」罕見公開 直擊內部作業、核動力能巡洋數月Yahoo奇摩(國際通)10,751 次觀看・1 天前
熱門必看
- 3:13唐綺陽星座運勢:本週水星逆行牡羊座!上升射手注意舊情人找上門來~唐綺陽談星室58,205 次觀看・6 天前
- 9:38換乘戀愛3為何能讓大家一秒入坑? 比韓劇還扯?戀綜衝擊看點曝光Yahoo創作摩人38,987 次觀看・1 週前
- 9:57【居家清潔紀錄】花費4小時清潔廚房跟衛浴!費用、前後比對公開,結果太驚人😂原來這些都是清潔重點!★特盛吃貨艾嘉f.t.55688生活大管家特盛吃貨艾嘉15,619 次觀看・1 週前
- 1:55男生也可以飆唱紫棋的原 key!神人快拜!#好聲音推薦 #學唱歌 #歌唱教學 #翻唱 #reaction嘎老師 Miss Ga12,071 次觀看・4 天前
- 6:59簡單三步驟做出超好吃酸白菜蘿潔塔的廚房35,019 次觀看・2 天前