Russian Anna Korchagina (17) was born as a completely healthy child, but her life was quickly marked by a serious illness. She has developed an incurable genetic disorder known as progeria, which causes this young girl to age extremely quickly. Despite his health problems, he tries to enjoy life to the fullest and today entertains hundreds of thousands of people on social networks with his posts..
- Anna suffers from progeria, an extremely rare genetic disorder that causes accelerated aging.
- The first symptoms of the disease appeared already after the first year of life.
- Young Russia also suffers from heart problems, epilepsy, prediabetes and painful joint dysplasia.
- Despite her serious condition, she is a popular influencer with hundreds of thousands of fans.
She had problems from an early age
From early childhood, Anna faced many difficult challenges. Born in 2009 as the third child in the Korchagin family, she was an adorable baby loved by everyone. She grew like any other toddler, with chubby cheeks and timid first steps. “Everything was fine until she was one year old. She was completely healthy, the only difference was that her head was slightly enlarged” said her father Maxim.
When Anna was a little over a year old, the first serious problems appeared. Her hair began to fall out, her weight and height fell significantly short of normal growth, and her facial expression also changed.. This prompted the parents to seek medical attention. “They kept us in suspense for a long time, they didn’t tell us anything. Something was obviously wrong, but no one could figure out what. They called us every six months for check-ups and only guessed, but could not make an official diagnosis” added Maxim.
It wasn’t until 2012 that little Anna’s parents met an endocrinologist in the Russian city of Novosibirsk, who was the first to suspect progeria. “We learned about a similar case in the US, where it was possible to do a blood analysis. We agreed to send, but export biological samples from our country was banned. We tried to get a special permit through the Ministry of Health, but to no avail. It was only two and a half years later that she was finally given a genetic test at a hospital in Moscow“, the father admitted.
When Anna was five years old, a blood test definitively confirmed the cruel truth that she was suffering from progeria. It is one of the rarest genetic disorders in the world, affecting only one in approximately 8 million newborns. This rare disease is caused by a mutation in the gene that codes for the lamin A protein, leading to premature cell death throughout the body.
The devastated family had no idea what to do after the diagnosis. “They only told us to live as we have until now. At that time, Anna was already very different from other children. Her nose narrowed unnaturally and her skin tightened, but despite this she moved completely normally, went to kindergarten, later to school and even participated in physical education classes. People around her tried to take care of her, but there were also those who pointed fingers at her and laughed at her,” remarked Maxim.
Progeria treatment is extremely expensive, but money is not the only problem. Many drugs that can remove harmful protein from cells, are still only in the development stage. Despite this, the Korchagin family tries to live as normally as possible.
Maxim continuously takes care of his seriously disabled daughter and earns only about 13,500 rubles a month. When asked about Anna’s mother, the father replied: “She lives with us, but she is not a publicly known person and she asked us not to talk about her. For the first years, she took care of her daughter exclusively, but when the biggest problems arose, I took over this important role.”
Since Anna needs constant help and care, Maxim gave up his part-time jobs and helps her as much as possible. “She is practically helpless. She does not age only on the outside, but also on the inside of her body. In addition to progeria, she has serious heart problems, high blood pressure, epilepsy and prediabetes. She also suffers from dysplasia, which causes the joints in her hands and feet to dislocate easily. Therefore, he must constantly wear special braces” explained dad.
She is a well-known influencer
Anna, now almost an adult, is just over one meter tall and looks like she is 80 years old. Although her condition naturally evokes sympathy, when you begin to interact with her, it is immediately clear to you that she is beyond pity. The young Russian woman tries to live life to the fullest, runs a popular blog on social networks, actively communicates with friends online and is very fond of makeup. “Most of all, I love drawing eyeliner because it makes my eyes look beautiful. But I don’t do it every day, it depends on my mood,” she revealed with a smile.
In addition, she has built a huge audience on the Internet. She has her own YouTube channel, where more than 900,000 people watch her. Although making videos does not bring her financial income, it solves other problems for her. Thanks to the online world, Anna has a large circle of friends who understand her diagnosis and wish her only the best. “I dream of traveling. I want to go to Dubai and I really like Moscow too. I would also like to help my father, because he needs expensive dental treatment. He can barely chew solid food, although he loves nuts,” said Anna.
Her father’s dreams, on the contrary, revolve exclusively around the health of his beloved daughter. He firmly believes that, despite the dire diagnosis, Anna will have a happy life. “The only thing that scares me is that she is about to turn 18 and it is not at all clear how things will continue with her medication and health care. We dream of moving to Moscow. We love our Novosibirsk, but her illness requires special treatment and the only place we can get her is right there” concluded a proud Maxim.
This article comes from the Ringier publishing partner website. The content and data contained in it were taken without editorial intervention.
