Medics told the now-37-year-old’s mother to let him starve to death after he was born with a rare condition of the joints that left him with severely deformed limbs … and an upside-down head.
But despite his physical limitations, Claudio, from Monte Santo, Brazil, has defied doctors’ doubts to become an accountant and inspirational public speaker.
‘Since I was a child I’ve always liked to keep myself busy and work – I don’t like to depend totally on other people,’ he said. ‘I do a bit of accounting, research for clients and consulting. I have learned to turn on the TV, pick up my cell phone, turn on the radio, use the internet, my computer – I do it all by myself.’
He cannot use a wheelchair because of his unusual shape, making it hard for him to be independent outside the home – but he begged his mother to be allowed to go to school and learn with the other children
Claudio is just like any other person – that’s how he was raised in this house.
‘We never tried to fix him and always wanted him to do the normal things everyone else does.That’s why he is so confident. He is not ashamed of walking around in the street – he sings and he dances.’ At eight years old, Claudio, who had previously been carried everywhere, began to walk on his knees.
Doctors have recently diagnosed him with a rare condition called congenital arthrogryposis. They believe he has multiple joint contractions in his legs and arms which mean they cannot extend properly.Claudio said: ‘Throughout my life I was able to adapt my body to the world. Right now, I don’t see myself as being different. I am a normal person.
‘I don’t see things upside-down. This is one of the things I always talk about in my interventions as a public speaker. Nowadays it’s much easier to deal with the public, I’m not afraid of it anymore and I can say that I am a professional, international public speaker and that I receive invitations from all over the world.’
He is not the only person with the disease who has refuse to let it overcome his life. Leanne Beetham who became a celebrated photographer and artist whose paintings of wildlife – which she creates by holding a paintbrush in her mouth – have sold for hundreds of pounds.
Miss Beetham, who has a degree in applied animal behaviour, uses paint and graphite to make her images, which can take more than eight hours to complete at a sitting.