Watch 30-Year-Old With Rare Condition Speak Out About Her Lifestyle!
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A newlywed 30-year-old has spoken out about her rare condition and admitted she is determined not to let premature aging dictate her life.
Challi Muguira from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is possibly the world’s oldest surviving person diagnosed with progeria, a rare genetic disorder that results in premature aging, short stature, hasty hair loss, and growth delay.
Despite being born with the condition, Challi hadn’t been diagnosed with progeria for over 16 years. Fortunately, however, she never let her condition stop her from enjoying her life to the fullest.
“I like being different. It’s affected my life in more of a positive way and I want to help people, especially kids like me,” the 30-year-old said.
“Progeria is a rare aging disorder. Normally the kids that have it pass away by the time they are 10 to 15. I have a very moderate case but I was told at a very early age that it would be a miracle if I would live to be 30 years old, so I am obviously doing well, compared to what I thought I was aging, I am not aging as fast.
“I do have the features of someone who has progeria – I have very prominent eyes, very thing nose, very thin hair and you can tell by looking at me that I don’t look 30.”
As the woman admitted, she first realized something was terribly wrong with her when she fell off a bicycle at the age of two and injured her fingers. Nevertheless, it took doctors 16 years to come up with a diagnosis.
“The diagnosis itself was lots of doctors offices. Eventually, one doctor sent us to a children’s hospital and from there I got a very good doctor,” she added.
“He had one of his classes do a study on just me and the class was actually the ones who diagnosed me. There are a lot of things that you learn about yourself during the process and I learned a lot.
“At 16 years old you don’t want to hear that you are aging faster but I learned a lot. There are things that you kind of have to accept and I had amazing doctors along the way.”
While her school days were tough, Challi finally found someone she could trust when she came across Tony.
“Tony and I met on a dating site. I liked talking to him, I enjoyed it and I like that fact that when you talk to somebody like that, they can’t judge you based on what you really look like. They are only judging the person they get to know,” Challi said.
“I think I loved him the moment I met him. I knew from the way at the beginning that I wanted a life with him.”
Since then, the bond between Challi and Tony grew stronger by the day and the two soon tied the knot.
“We support each other. We bring out the best in each other. We try, a lot of the time, to goof off and take each other’s minds off of it,” Tony added.
“We sit down and talk and remind each other that it’s not that bad. Being with Challi changed my perspective on a lot of things. She is just one in a million!”
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