Wolf Boy Pruthviraj Patil: 11-Year-Old Suffers Hair Disorder (PHOTOS)

From today's New York Post:

Pruthviraj Patil, 11, suffers from a rare genetic disorder known as hypertrichosis - or "werewolf syndrome" - which causes a thick coat of hair to grow over every inch of his body except his palms and feet.

When he was born in a village near Mumbai, his mother was told she had given birth to a god, but in school, there have been more bullies than believers.

An episode of the TLC series "My Shocking Story" chronicled the efforts of a group of Columbia scientists, including dermatologist Angela Christiano, to develop a cure for Pruthviraj's disorder, which is estimated to afflict fewer than 50 people on the planet.

Pruthviraj's family has tried every imaginable treatment, from homeopathy to laser surgery to a trip to the local barber, but the hair always grows back.

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PHOTOS:

This is NOT the Wolf Boy who ran feral in Russia

Comments

[butonelife]

01:57 PM on 11/21/2008

"Wolf Boy" for chrissakes? Whatever, Huffpo.

[Railroadbum]

01:40 PM on 11/21/2008

He can always go to Burma for a shave.

[liverjuggler]

09:13 AM on 11/21/2008

he needs the hormones given to men transvestiles that gets rid of beard and hairs on the chest. I think those will eliminate this boy's hairs. Right?

[Obinna]

07:36 AM on 11/21/2008

Indians are naturally hairy -- so with constant shaving/grooming, this child may indeed grow up to effectively manage this unfortunate abnormality in his society. Imagine how TOUGHER life would be for the Wolf Child if he is living in a Western society-- with the usual fanatical devotion to the clean-shaven, waxed or plucked look.

[NKR]

09:40 AM on 11/21/2008

Are you seriously saying that Indians are so hairy that if this guy shaved he could get by with living a normal life? I think they might notice the 5 o'clock shadow covering his face. Indians are not THAT hairy. On average maybe a bit more hairy than most Europeans. Its pretty offensive to say that a f'ing werewolf could manage any better there than here.

[sassafra]

05:02 AM on 11/21/2008

the little guy might have a future in hollywood, does he like basketball?

[MRb1000]

01:18 AM on 11/21/2008

They need to stop calling him Wolf boy he has a name. This is what is wrong with world today! We are all ready to give someone a label because they do not look like you! I pray to GOD that the find a way to help this young man. I think it is just not right! However, this exposure will surely give him a great chance to get the help that is need! America alway step up to the plate! This is how we make them with a heart.

[typingisnotactivism]

07:23 AM on 11/21/2008

yeah - good luck, Wolf Boy.

[MarkInEugene]

12:03 AM on 11/21/2008

If humanity ever acomplishes long distance space travel, it's going to take some pretty amazing human beings to deal with the shock of alien species. We still don't do very well with the diversity we find here on a terra firma. We have a few more thousand years of evolution before we get there.

[NoOneSpecial]

11:25 PM on 11/20/2008

He looks like a young member of the X-Men.

Who cares, then? He could really work his image to look amazingly cool as he grows older.

Instead of a dermatologist, he just needs a friend in the special effects make up industry from Hollywood.

[vjthedj]

09:40 PM on 11/20/2008

India sends it's first rocket to the moon, instead we get to see wolf boy? What is Huffpo turning into, the national enquirer?

[ESerafina42]

12:33 AM on 11/21/2008

That's what I was thinking. Also, how is this different from a carnival "freak" show? Photos!!! Photos!! Shame on you, HuffPo.

[rajunk007]

09:11 PM on 11/20/2008

yea, poor kid. hope things work out...

[YouDisgustMe]

08:54 PM on 11/20/2008

wow...this is scary

[SColbert]

08:42 PM on 11/20/2008

Whenever the media has a story on India, its something crazy like this!! WTF!! India has other things too, f--in media!

[Rangerguy2000]

12:38 AM on 11/21/2008

i agree...

[eva belle]

07:45 PM on 11/20/2008

He is so cute...especially when he was a baby (look at the pics on the NY Post). He had a hairy bum, like lots of you out there, especially American women and men.

[TheSpartanOfAuburn]

09:33 PM on 11/20/2008

Awkward....

[LeftLeanWing]

07:32 PM on 11/20/2008

Actually I think it looks kind of cool.

If it was me or mine, I would work it and become a fashion icon.

As I grew up I would have a Charles Atlas body and get a ad contract from Pantene or Wella Balsam or Advantage Flea-n-Tick treatment.

The trick is to always appear clean, groomed and confident.

[springsm]

10:57 PM on 11/20/2008

I don't think this little boy would really like your caveliar attitude towards this To him and his family this is devastating. And you know the other little boys are ceaseless in namecalling and ugly remarks. Rather insensitive don't you think.

[LeftLeanWing]

02:10 AM on 11/21/2008

Maybe

But my point is that he lives in a culture that either treats him as a god or a freak. I would work the god perspective. If my entire body and face was covered with hair it would be the most luxurious hair on the planet and I would somehow 'make it work'.

In Mexico there are entire families with this condition and I've seen photos of families in eastern Europe too. They somehow manage to make it sexy instead of monstrous.

That's all.

[Petunia39]

07:27 PM on 11/20/2008

I like it that when he was born, his mother was told that she had given birth to a God. It makes me think that that is the outlook that perhaps his family has taken and that maybe others in India will have, and that he will have a future where he will be respected and not one where he will be shunned.