COUSINS Yousaf, 12, and Hayyan, 18, both have a rare condition called Morquio Syndrome which affects around 50-100 children in the UK. Having Morquio means that the boys can’t break down or produce sugar enzymes which causes problems with their bones, spines and internal organs. Sajad, Hayyan’s father, told Truly what difficulties this presents for the boys: “They have to keep a close check up on their hearts and their lungs as they have very small airways.” The pair are incredibly close and refer to each other as ‘twins’ as they have such a unique, special bond. Although they have the same condition, Yousaf's Morquio is much more severe - Sajad, Yousaf’s Uncle, told Truly: “Yousaf’s had it a lot more severely than Hayyan, he stopped walking at a really young age”. Due to Yousaf living in Birmingham and Hayyan in Slough the cousins are only able to see each other around once every six weeks but they’re in touch on a daily basis. When the boys are together they like to play computer games, visit the local park and talk about planes and their favourite sports cars. Iktias, Yousaf’s father, told Truly: “They bounce off each other, they have very similar interests.” Born Different visited the boys to see them catch up with each other and visit their local park to feed the ducks.
