The world's shortest living man

Edward Nino Hernández is in many ways a typical 24-year-old
Colombian man. He loves to dance reggaeton, dreams of owning a car –
preferably a Mercedes-Benz – and wants to see the world. What sets him
apart is his size. He is slightly taller than a piece of carry-on
luggage and weighs just 10kg (22lbs). Nino Hernández has just been
officially certified as the world's shortest living man by Guinness
World Records, measuring 70cm (27in). "He hasn't grown since he was two
years old," his mother, Noemi Hernández, said of the oldest of her five
children. More images after the break...

The previous titleholder was He Pingping of China, who was 4cm
taller and died on 13 March.They say Nino Hernández 's reign is not
likely to last long, however. Khagendra Thapa Magar of Nepal is expected
to take over after he turns 18 on 14 October. He measures about 56 cm
and is currently recognised by Guinness as the shortest living teenager.
Doctors never could explain why Ninõ is so small, his parents say.

"They never gave us a diagnosis," says his mother, during an
interview in the family's sparely furnished apartment in Bosa, a
district of southern Bogotá.



Hernández, 43, said her son weighed 1.5kg at birth and was 38cm long.



She said doctors at the National University studied him until he was
three, then lost interest. She and her husband, a security guard, lost a
daughter who was similarly small in 1992 when she was nearly a year
old.



The couple's youngest child, 11-year-old Miguel Angel, stands 93cm tall
and has facial features similar to his older silbling. The other three
boys are of average height and appearance.

"I feel happy because I'm unique," Nino Hernández said in an
interview.



He does, however, have his problems: cataracts in both of his eyes that
blur his vision and, says his mother, require urgent surgery that the
family can't afford.



Other than his eyes, he has no medical complaints.



Nino Hernández has earned some cash dancing at department stores and is
now acting in a film in which he plays a drug dealer.



He adds that he's got used to all the picture-taking. But being the
world's smallest man does have its drawbacks.



"It bothers me that people are [always] touching me and picking me up,"
he said. Via Link 1 2