Tiny Junrey Balawing is set to make a little speck of history – when he becomes the world’s shortest man.
At 22in, the 17-year-old is not much larger than a baby but he can’t remain for his big day in June when he hits 18 and is probable to be named as a world beater. Junrey, who is five inches shorter than the present record holder, said: “If I were the smallest man, it would be very cool.”
He is the eldest of four children but has to stay at home all day so his mother Concepcion, 35, can look after him. She said: “Junrey can only saunter with help and he can’t stand for too long because he’s in too much pain.
“But he loves it when I tell him he’s the smallest man in the world. He smiles with arrogance.” Concepcion and Junrey’s blacksmith dad, Reynaldo, who live in a remote part of the Philippines, realized something was mistaken when he was two. But medicine’s were unable to help. At 12, he was told to get vitamins they could not pay for.
Nino Hernandez, 24, of Colombia, is at present the world’s smallest man at 27 inches. But he’s about to be undercut by another small miracle.
