CHANGSHA, China: Wang Junming from central China’s Hunan province may be 25 years old, but he is still the size of a baby.
Standing at 66cm tall, Wang has the IQ of a child. He is spoiled by his family, including his 21-year-old sister, who all call him “baby”.
He need not worry about graduation and jobs as his peers do and he sleeps before 8pm every day.
The eye pouches and wrinkles on his face and the characters that pop out from his mouth make it hard to believe that Wang is a baby.
He went viral after his sister, Xiaoling, posted details of her daily life looking after him on social media where she now has 163,000 followers.
Kind-hearted people contacted a hospital for him, and he was diagnosed this February with pituitary hormone deficiency, a condition where the pituitary gland fails to produce one or several hormones that control metabolism and growth.
It is reported that most people who suffer from the condition get diagnosed between six months and three years old and can receive proper treatment and grow into an adult.
Wang’s parents did take him to hospital in the provincial capital city Changsha, where they received medication.
However, the poor family, with a monthly income of just 3,000 yuan (US$450) from the father’s bricklaying job, did not continue his treatment.
Wang’s superstitious mother believed that it was her fate and made up her mind to look after him for life.
Endocrinologist Deng Chao at the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University in Changsha began treating Wang after his diagnosis. He said Wang’s POU1F1 gene, which regulates mammalian development, is abnormal.
Deng noted 2021 research that indicates that there were only 114 such patients worldwide, and many of them grew to normal height and IQ after receiving proper treatment.
Wang is currently receiving regular hormonotherapy. Deng said he could not predict what the effect of the treatment would be.
Wang’s parents had Xiaoling three years after him. When she was in primary school, their mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer.
She used to be distant from her brother, but after their mother’s diagnosis, she began seeing Wang as her sibling and someone to emotionally rely on.
Despite the fact that their parents want her to have her own life, Xiaoling willingly shouldered the burden of looking after her brother.
She carried him around in her arms, and gradually understood his mumbling.
He also became more capable over time, could recognise his only sister and would even point her to the location of her phone which had been hidden by their mother.
Their mother also unexpectedly recovered from the cancer.
But Xiaoling decided to stick around. She did not go to bigger cities after graduating from a nursing school. Instead, she worked at a beauty clinic in Changsha.
She has decided to accompany her brother for his treatment.
In Xiaoling’s social media account, many asked if Wang will be like the character in the American fantasy film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, growing taller and younger in the future.
Neither Xiaoling nor her family knew the answer.
The doctor said he might be able to walk on his own and reach a higher IQ, but they did not know whether his bones would be able to bear his growing weight.
Xiaoling said that as a child, she once thought her brother would never grow old and live for thousands of years. She also planned to let her offspring take over the duty of looking after him.
Doctors say his condition will not affect his lifespan.
She said she would stay with her brother. She also plans to run a noodle stall and do live-streaming to make money to pay for his treatment.
“Fate did not let him grow up properly, but gave me a little man to care about for life,” she said.
“He is unlucky to have the illness, but he is lucky to have a family that loves him,” said one online observer. - South China Morning Post
