8-year-old African Boy who Has Rare Condition That Makes His Eyes a Mesmerizing Blue (photos, video)

An eight-year-old boy in Ethiopia has a rare condition that changes the pigmentation of his eyes to a startling blue, Only one in 300,000 people are born with the condition, known as the Waardenburg syndrome. The syndrome also causes deafness in some cases. The eight-year-old boy in Jinka, Southern Ethiopia identified only as Abushe, has the Waardenburg syndrome, which is known to affect only one in 300,000 people around the world and sometimes causes deafness. His young playmates sometimes teasingly call him “plastic eyes” and he understandably draws a lot of attention and staring because of his eyes.

Abushe’s family is poor and sent him to live with his grandmother in order to be closer to school. He loves playing football with his friends in his free time.

In an interview with a local reporter, Abushe said he also loves watching football and loves Barcelona and its star player, Lionel Messi. He said: “Messi is just like me; he’s not like the others!”

When Abushe was born, his parents initially thought he was blind. However, they soon realized that he could see just like a normal child. They lacked money to take Abushe to have his eyes checked and eventually accepted his condition, which they now call “gift from God.”

The young boy says he hopes to become a football star when he grows up. For more pictures of blue-eyed Africans like him, watch the video below.