A toddler in Malaysia who was born with excess facial and upper body hair and no nostrils was welcomed as “a child of heaven” by the King and Queen of Malaysia last week.
Two-year-old Missclyen Roland was waiting with her parents on September 10 to greet Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah and his consort, Tunku Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah, who were touring the eastern Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak.
They were among hundreds of people waiting for the royal couple at a village along Jalan Bintulu-Miri in Sarawak.
Missclyen’s parents, Roland Jimbai, 49, and Theresa Guntin, 28, said they had always wanted to meet the royal couple, whom they had only seen on television and social media.
Roland said the five-hour wait was worth it: the King and Queen took pictures with Missclyen, and the Queen held and hugged the little girl.
“The King said: ‘Take good care of this child. She is a child of heaven… a blessing from God,’” the welder said, adding that he was still at a loss for words about the actual encounter.
The father of four said Missclyen, his youngest daughter, was diagnosed with congenital generalized hypertrichosis, a rare disease characterized by excessive hair growth all over the body.
Hypertrichosis is sometimes called werewolf syndrome.
She was also born without nostrils.
Despite Missclyen’s condition, Roland said the boy is healthy and attends regular medical check-ups at Bintulu Hospital.
Roland said people had stigmatized them because of their son’s appearance.
Some even called her a “ghost child,” causing them unnecessary pain and stress. That’s why her parents avoided taking her out in public, except for hospital follow-ups.
“We were very afraid of what people were going to say,” Roland told the local newspaper New Sarawak Tribune.
They have since overcome their fears and accepted that people are curious or don’t understand Missclyen’s condition.