''Extraordinary People'' is a

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

documentary series broadcast on Channel 5 in the United Kingdom. Each programme follows the lives of people with a rare medical condition and/or unusual

ability Abilities are powers an agent has to perform various actions. They include common abilities, like walking, and rare abilities, like performing a double backflip. Abilities are intelligent powers: they are guided by the person's intention and exec ...

. People featured have or had rare illnesses such as

rabies Rabies is a viral disease that causes encephalitis in humans and other mammals. Early symptoms can include fever and tingling at the site of exposure. These symptoms are followed by one or more of the following symptoms: nausea, vomiting, vi ...

and eye cancer. Many of these people do activities previously thought impossible for people in their condition. The show began airing on 28 March 2003.

List of people featured

*Petero Byakatonda, a

Crouzon syndrome Crouzon syndrome is an autosomal dominant genetic disorder known as a branchial arch syndrome. Specifically, this syndrome affects the first branchial (or pharyngeal) arch, which is the precursor of the maxilla and mandible. Since the branchial ...

patient *Ellie, Georgie, Holly, and Jessica Carles, the only

identical Two things are identical if they are the same, see Identity (philosophy). Identical may also refer to: * ''Identical'' (Hopkins novel), a 2008 young adult novel by Ellen Hopkins * ''Identical'' (Turow novel), a 2013 legal drama novel by Scott T ...

quadruplets A multiple birth is the culmination of one multiple pregnancy, wherein the mother gives birth to two or more babies. A term most applicable to vertebrate species, multiple births occur in most kinds of mammals, with varying frequencies. Such bir ...

in Britain *David Fitzpatrick,

fugue state Dissociative fugue (), formerly called a fugue state or psychogenic fugue, is a mental and behavioral disorderDrs; that is classified variously as a dissociative disorder,Dissociative Fugue (formerly Psychogenic Fugue) 'DSM-IV 300.13, Diagnost ...

(amnesia) sufferer *

Jeanna Giese Rabies is a viral disease that causes encephalitis in humans and other mammals. Early symptoms can include fever and tingling at the site of exposure. These symptoms are followed by one or more of the following symptoms: nausea, vomiting, vio ...

, the first

survivor, who was administered the

Milwaukee protocol Rabies is a viral disease that causes encephalitis in humans and other mammals. Early symptoms can include fever and tingling at the site of exposure. These symptoms are followed by one or more of the following symptoms: nausea, vomiting, vio ...

after being bitten by an infected bat * Abby and Brittany Hensel,

dicephalic parapagus Skeletal structure of dicephalic twins. B. C. Hirst & G. A. Piersol, Human monstrosities. Wellcome L0027955. (1893) Dicephalic parapagus () is a rare form of partial twinning with two heads side by side on one torso. Infants conjoined this way ...

conjoined twins Conjoined twins – sometimes popularly referred to as Siamese twins – are twins joined ''in utero''. A very rare phenomenon, the occurrence is estimated to range from 1 in 49,000 births to 1 in 189,000 births, with a somewhat higher incidence ...

* Akrit Jaswal, who performed his first surgery at age seven * Dede Koswara, an Indonesian man with a form of HPV (

epidermodysplasia verruciformis Epidermodysplasia verruciformis (EV), also known as treeman syndrome, is an extremely rare autosomal recessive hereditary skin disorder associated with a high risk of skin cancer. It is characterized by abnormal susceptibility to human papillom ...

) which causes tree-like growths *Florence "Flo" & Katherine "Kay" Lyman, identical twin female

autistic The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

savants Savant syndrome () is a rare condition in which someone with significant mental disabilities demonstrates certain abilities far in excess of average. The skills that savants excel at are generally related to memory. This may include rapid calcu ...

*Cameron Macaulay, a boy who claims to have memories of a past life on the Island of

Barra Barra (; gd, Barraigh or ; sco, Barra) is an island in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland, and the second southernmost inhabited island there, after the adjacent island of Vatersay to which it is connected by a short causeway. The island is na ...

, Scotland. *

José Mestre José Mestre (born 1956) is a man known for having a , haemangioma tumor on his face. The tumor started forming on his lips when he was 14. Mestre had not received treatment for the tumor due to "years of medical misinformation, some misdiagnosi ...

, who suffered a huge, life-threatening facial tumor *John and Jeanette Murphy, an American couple who, in addition to having four children of their own, have adopted 23 with

special needs In clinical diagnostic and functional development, special needs (or additional needs) refers to individuals who require assistance for disabilities that may be medical, mental, or psychological. Guidelines for clinical diagnosis are given in ...

Hayley Okines Hayley Leanne Okines (3 December 1997 – 2 April 2015) was an English author and activist who was a sufferer of the extremely rare aging disease progeria. She was known for spreading awareness of the condition. Although the average life e ...

, an English girl who had

progeria Progeria is a specific type of progeroid syndrome, also known as Hutchinson–Gilford syndrome. A single gene mutation is responsible for progeria. The gene, known as lamin A (LMNA), makes a protein necessary for holding the Nucleus of the cell ...

Derek Paravicini Derek Paravicini (born 26 July 1979) is an English autistic savant known as a musical prodigy. He resides in London. Biography On 26 July 1979, Paravicini was born at Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, He was born extremely prematurely, at ...

, a blind

savant Savant syndrome () is a rare condition in which someone with significant mental disabilities demonstrates certain abilities far in excess of average. The skills that savants excel at are generally related to memory. This may include rapid calcu ...

and

musical prodigy A child prodigy is defined in psychology research literature as a person under the age of ten who produces meaningful output in some domain to the level of an adult expert performer. This is a list of young children (under age 10) who displayed a ...

Kim Peek Laurence Kim Peek (November 11, 1951December 19, 2009) was an People of the United States, American savant syndrome, savant. Known as a "megasavant", he had an exceptional memory, but he also experienced social difficulties, possibly resulting fr ...

, a

Oscar Pistorius Oscar Leonard Carl Pistorius (; ; born 22 November 1986) is a South African convicted murderer and former professional sprinter. Both of his feet were amputated when he was 11 months old owing to a congenital defect; he was born missing the o ...

, amputee athlete *Sarah Scantlin, who awoke and began speaking again after twenty years in a

coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal wake-sleep cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. Coma patients exhi ...

Mandy Sellars Mandy Sellars (born 20 February 1975 in Lancashire, United Kingdom) is a British woman with a rare genetic mutation that has resulted in extraordinary growth in both of her legs. In 2006, some doctors diagnosed Sellars as having Proteus syndrome, ...

, woman whose legs grew to life-threatening proportions *

Shiloh Pepin Sirenomelia, also called mermaid syndrome, is a rare congenital deformity in which the legs are fused together, giving the appearance of a mermaid's tail, hence the nickname. Classification Sirenomelia is classified by the skeletal structure o ...

, a girl who had

sirenomelia Sirenomelia, also called mermaid syndrome, is a rare congenital deformity in which the legs are fused together, giving the appearance of a mermaid's tail, hence the nickname. Classification Sirenomelia is classified by the skeletal structure o ...

or Mermaid Syndrome *

Budhia Singh Budhia Singh (born 2002) is an Indian long-distance runner who became notable for his athletic feats as a child. He has been acclaimed as the world's youngest marathon runner. He ran from Puri to Bhubaneswar at the age of five covering in seven ...

, an Indian boy who ran a 40-mile marathon at the age of four *

Daniel Tammet Daniel Tammet (born Daniel Paul Corney; 31 January 1979) is an English writer and savant. His memoir, ''Born on a Blue Day'' (2006), is about his early life with Asperger syndrome and savant syndrome, and was named a "Best Book for Young Adult ...

, an

with

synesthesia Synesthesia (American English) or synaesthesia (British English) is a perceptual phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. People who re ...

* Ben Underwood, an American man who had lost both eyes to

retinal cancer Retinoblastoma (Rb) is a rare form of cancer that rapidly develops from the immature cells of a retina, the light-detecting tissue of the eye. It is the most common primary malignant intraocular cancer in children, and it is almost exclusively fo ...

, but was able to use echolocation to help him navigate the environment and use objects *Luciana Wulken, a young girl with

fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (; FOP; also called Münchmeyer disease and formerly called myositis ossificans progressiva or Stoneman disease) is an extremely rare connective tissue disease in which fibrous connective tissue such as mus ...

* Zahra Aboutalib, a woman from Morocco who lived for 46 years carrying a

lithopedion A lithopedion ( also spelled lithopaedion or lithopædion; from grc, λίθος "stone" and grc, παιδίον "small child, infant"), or stone baby, is a rare phenomenon which occurs most commonly when a fetus dies during an abdominal pregna ...

after the death of an abdominal fetus * Jane Ingram, an English woman from

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

who successfully gave birth to healthy triplets, one of whom had implanted in her abdomen

References

External links

Official show website
* Channel 5 (British TV channel) original programming 2000s British documentary television series 2003 British television series debuts {{UK-nonfiction-tv-prog-stub