Have you ever wondered how cool (or is it horrifying?) the world might be if superheroes actually existed? As a proud nerd, this is something I contemplate often. Ultimately, though, it’s a futile line of thinking, because superheroes just don’t exist…right?
If the story of seven-year-old Olivia Farnsworth is to be believed, maybe superheroes are a lot closer to reality than we all thought…
Farnsworth (pictured below) was only nine months old when her mother, Niki Trepak, noticed she was different.
Trepak says it was around this time that her daughter stopped napping completely, and only seemed to need a couple of hours of sleep each night. It went on like that for quite a while. “I’ll always remember when she was five and started school, I saw her yawn for the first time,” said her mother.
But that wasn’t the only unusual thing about her daughter.
One time she fell and her teeth managed to go all the way through her lip, but she didn’t even cry. Still, even that was mild compared to the day she was accidentally hit by a car. The vehicle hit the girl and dragged her 100 feet before stopping. Even though she had a tire mark on her chest, Farnsworth didn’t shed a tear.
Doctors who have examined her discovered that the reason for Farnsworth’s seemingly supernatural abilities is a missing chromosome.
She is one of only 100 people in the world with a condition known as chromosome 6 deletion. Those who have the disorder do not feel pain, hunger, or tiredness. Olivia is thought to be the only human ever to have all three of those symptoms.
Okay, so she’s not exactly Supergirl, but you’ve got to admit those are some pretty amazing abilities.
(via Mysterious Universe)
Even though Farnsworth doesn’t get tired or hungry, doctors have her on a strict schedule of eating and sleeping to make sure her body gets what it needs. Maybe her super strength will develop as she grows up?