Standing at 23 inches tall — and weighing in at just 11 pounds — Jyoti Amge is no ordinary teenager. In fact, the 14-year-old is the world's smallest girl, according to the Indian Book of Records.
Amge has a form of dwarfism called achondroplasia, which affects an estimated one out of every 25,000 births and occurs in all races.
But, her tiny size hasn't hampered her spirit one bit.
The teenager told Britain's Sunday Mirror that she enjoys the celebrity status her height has brought her.
"I am proud of being small. I love the attention I get," she told the paper.
"I'm just the same as other people. I eat like you, dream like you. I don't feel any different."
According to the Mayo Clinic, about 70 percent of all people with dwarfism have achondroplasia, which causes disproportionately short stature.
This disorder usually results in:
— An adult height of approximately 4 feet
— An average-size trunk
— Short arms and legs, with particularly short upper arms and legs
— Short fingers, often with a wide separation between the middle and ring fingers
— Limited mobility at the elbows
— A disproportionately large head, with a prominent forehead and flattened bridge of the nose
Despite all this, Amge is just like any other teenager.
She loves listening to music, watching DVDs and attends the local high school in her town of Nagpur, India, where she sits side-by-side with classmates of her own age.
"When Jyoti was born, she seemed quite normal," her mother, Ranjana, 45, told the Sunday Mirror.
"We came to know about her disorder when she was five. We consulted a specialist and he said she will be this size all of her life. Jyoti is small, yet cute, and we love her very much."
As for the future — it’s wide open.
For the most part, people with this form of dwarfism have normal intelligence and lifespan – and this very ambitious teenager intends to take full advantage of all her talents.
"I would like to work in a big city like Mumbai, act in films and travel to London and America," she said.
She has even recently recorded an album with her favorite Indian pop star, Mike Singh, according to the report.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Jyoti Amge - World's Smallest Girl
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Labels: dwarfism, Jyoti Amge
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