Meet Ali Hussain: the 14-year-old boy with the body of a 110-year-old

A 14-year-old boy has been left with the body of a 110-year-old in India because he has a rare disease which makes him age eight times faster than normal.

Ali Hussain has seen five of his siblings die from the same condition called Progeria which is known to affect just 80 people worldwide.

Two of his brothers and three of his sisters have died from the disease in Bihar, the poorest state in India.


Progeria causes rapid ageing and sufferers of the genetic disease are prone to arthritis, eye problems, heart disease and baldness.

Sufferers are not expected to live much beyond the age of 14 - but despite the grim prognosis Ali has refused to give up hope.

‘I very much want to live and I hope there is medicine for my condition out there. I’m not scared of death but my parents have suffered a lot,' he said.

'I’d love to live much longer for them. I don’t want to burden them with any more pain.’

Ali and his parents are now supported by a Kolkata-based charity called SB Devi Charity.

Pediatrician Dr Chandan Chattopadhyay, from Kolkata, introduced the family to the organisation and now they help Ali pay for his medical needs.