- Saturday, May 18, 2024
By: Pramod Thomas
THE six adult children of a family in Coventry were recognised as the most siblings with albinism last year, the BBC reported.
The Parvez-Akhtar family told the BBC that they sought recognition in the Guinness World Records to create “a positive” after years of bullying over the condition.
Albinism affects the production of melanin and people with the condition may have skin that burns easily in the sun and eye problems, including poor sight.
Naseem Akhtar, 42, the eldest, believes that their story will help other people overcome their “struggles”.
She told BBC that she wants to “make life easier for other people with albinism”.
“I was a different colour to my uncles and aunts and to my grandad and grandma. Confidence and self-esteem were affected by feeling like an outsider and “not fitting in any camp. It was very difficult; identity was a massive issue – certainly for myself. Being Asian but not looking Asian, it was massive,” she was quoted as saying by the broadcaster.
Parents Aslam and Shameem, both 65, were born in Pakistan and also have the condition passed on to their children, aged between 42 and 27.
Mohammed Rafi, 27, is the youngest sibling. He said they had a lot of support as children and their parents encouraged them to be independent.
“Basically at school we used to have a support worker network that used to be there to help us with anything,” he told BBC.
“But the bullying it did go on at school but when I went to college it just totally stopped. I think maybe because more people understood about bullying and racial awareness and everything – it just gradually faded out throughout my time as a child.”
They received the world record in May 2021, the report added.
