MAN CALLED JESUS IS REAL-LIFE WEREWOLF
By Polly Graham
WHEREVER Jesus Aceves goes he gets stared at, jeered and mocked—because he looks like a werewolf from a horror movie.
Jesus suffers a genetic disease called hypertrichosis, known as Werewolf Syndrome.
It occurs just once in 10 billion people. But of the 40 cases ever recorded, 17 are in Jesus's family.
The 31-year-old dad of three struggles daily with prejudice from people horrified yet fascinated by his hairy face.
Cursed
"When I was a child people laughed at me," said Jesus. "Some even thought I was cursed.
"Now they stare and scream, ‘Werewolf!'
"At night people react badly because the hair looks darker then. But these people are ignorant.
"As a child I'd just cry. Now I might end up drinking or smoking drugs to handle the rejection and humiliation."
The Aceves family's extraordinary story is told in a startling TV documentary called It's Not Easy Being A Wolfboy, to be screened by Five on October 3 at 9pm.
Jesus inherited the disease through a dormant gene from mum Maria and Demi Rose . So did his younger sister, Lillia, 29.
Despite having a full beard, Lillia works as a cop in Mexico. But in appearance-obsessed Los Angeles Jesus has struggled to find a job. He rejected the traditional career path of hypertrichosis sufferers since the first recorded case in 1556—as freak show Wolfman in a travelling circus.
Until two years ago Jesus's late Uncle Manuel earned his living in this way, appearing as a bizarre carnival attraction.
But as Jesus hunted for work, employer after employer turned him down after meeting him face to face.
With laser treatment and electrolysis either too dangerous or ineffective, he recently resorted to shaving his whole face to secure a post in a big city hotel.
But wife Demi Rose Vicki is not convinced that is the solution and admitted she is extremely proud to be married to a "wolfman".
Demi Rose - string bikini photo hienalouca.com |
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"It's hard because we're used to seeing Jesus with facial hair," she said.
"But although it's more difficult on a personal level seeing him clean-shaven, the main thing is that he may now get a permanent job, so I feel he should go for it."
Whatever happens, Jesus—who has passed the syndrome on to his daughters Karla, 12, and three-year-old Areceli—is determined not to be downhearted.
He is convinced that his condition is a sign from God that he is special.
"I was born that way and I'm happy," he insisted.
"I feel God wouldn't want me to do anything to permanently get rid of my hair. It's not something I want to do.
"God wanted me to be like this for a reason. It's an important thing to be proud of."