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In 1975 a man's rare condition astonished doctors when he was born with blue skin, a trait inherited from a distinctive inbred lineage renowned for its history of unusual Smurf-like pigmentation.
Ben Stacy, 37, hails from an exceptional family line residing in Troublesome Creek, Kentucky, USA. Their distinctiveness arose from generations of inbreeding that combined recessive genes in remarkable ways.
The Fugate family saga commenced in 1820 with Martin Fugate, a French orphan, and Elizabeth Smart forming their union.
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Martin carried an exceedingly rare genetic anomaly known as methemoglobinemia, impacting only 0.0035% of the global population. This condition hindered proper oxygen transport in the blood, giving it a brown hue and causing blue skin and purple lips.
Among Martin and Elizabeth's seven children, four were born with blue skin due to the recessive gene.
Had they not continued marrying within their family, the condition might not have prevailed in subsequent generations. However, due to their secluded lifestyle, intermarrying with cousins became the norm, intertwining their bloodline with the Combs, Richies, Smiths, and Stacys within the tight-knit community.
Zacharia, one of Martin and Elizabeth's children, astonishingly wed his own aunt, and another son married a close cousin.
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Levy, Zacharia's son, also married a cousin, leading to Luna Fugate's birth – referred to as "the bluest woman I ever saw" by ABC News. Luna wed John Stacy, birthing 13 children, including Ben, continuing the line.
As per the Daily Mail, Ben works as a water plant supervisor at the University of Alaska, holding a wildlife management degree from Eastern Kentucky University. He is married to Katherine Stacy, and the couple has four children.
The blue-skinned family's prevalence began dwindling in the early 20th Century as they dispersed and ceased interbreeding. Nonetheless, Ben, born with blue skin that eventually faded, would still manifest blue lips and fingernails when cold or upset during his childhood.
The family's extraordinary history was unearthed in 1958 when Luke Combs, seeking medical attention for his wife, drew doctors' focus due to his own blueish hue.
Dr. Charles H. Behlen II likened Luke's complexion to "Lake Louise on a cool summer day".
This intriguing narrative captivated blood specialist Dr. Madison Cawein at the University of Kentucky in the 1960s.
He embarked on a quest to locate and study the remaining Fugate family members. Dr. Cawein identified a deficiency in a crucial enzyme in their blood and hypothesized that injections of methylene blue dye could alleviate their condition.
Remarkably, after administering the dye, the blue skin disappeared within days, albeit temporarily. Dr. Cawein advocated for the family to take daily methylene tablets to manage their condition.
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