Little boy who hasn't eaten anything in FOUR years

A little boy has become so frightened of food and drink he hasn't eaten anything for four years.

Daniel Harrison's problem began when he suffered a severe case of acid reflux as a baby.

Because the four-year-old also suffers from autism, the memory of that painful time has stopped him from eating anything solid since.

Daniel's phobia means the only way he can get nutrition is through a tube in his stomach.

His parents, Kevin and Catherine, regularly shell out for costly trips to London's world famous Great Ormond Street Hospital from their home in Carlton, Nottingham, in a bid to find a solution.

But experts have found no way to help Daniel.

Now, in what father Kevin describes as his 'only hope', the family are determined to raise the £20,000 needed to fund a trip to a unique clinic in Austria which might be able to solve Daniel's difficult case.

Daniel has had numerous medical procedures and operations to try and correct his condition medically but with no success.

And in November 2009 he bravely fought off swine flu which developed into pneumonia and a collapsed lung.

Boots manager Kevin, 41, said his dream was to see his boy eat like any other little boy and that it would mean everything to the family.

He said: 'As a dad sitting with my boy at a table with all his feeding tubes and machines I know what it feels like to have people looking at him.

'Catherine and I worry about what would happen if something happened to us, we want Daniel to be able to eat and feed himself.

'The strain on Hannah is enormous also, to see your brother starving himself would be traumatic at any age, but she has been wonderful and is a credit to her brother

'There is nothing medically stopping our son from eating, it is in his mind, but there has been nobody yet that has managed to help him overcome that.

'The doctors at Great Ormond Street have been great, but even they don't know what to do with Daniel.

'Our only chance is to take him to University Hospital in Graz, Austria, as they are the only people who say they have treated a condition like Daniel's successfully.

'The problem is Daniel's case is so rare, even in Graz they have only seen and cured 12 youngsters and that is over 22 years.'

Using a technique not practiced in the UK the Austrian model uses a variety of in-house techniques to make a youngster realise they need and want food.

But for Kevin and his house letting manager wife Catherine, 37, their goal of helping their son is still far away as they have been told they will get no NHS help to send him abroad.

Kevin added: 'Daniel is a great little boy and his autism can be managed, but how is he meant to function in adulthood without being able to eat.

'Our local Public Health Trust (PCT) have refused to offer us any funding and even for things like help with travel costs we have been told we can't get help because we are working.

'Both Catherine and I have to take time off to take Daniel for treatment and we simply can't afford the huge cost it would take to get him to the clinic.

'There is a practical side to Daniel's condition as well, any outing is difficult to organise as we have to take lots of equipment. Our last holiday took six months to organise.

'It is also not fair for Daniel because taking his food through a tube means he has to sit still so we have to strap him down. If he could eat things would be different.'

World's smallest woman overjoyed at title by Guinness Book of Records

A woman who weighs little more than a new-born baby spoke of her joy today after being certified as the world's smallest woman.

Hatice Kocaman, just 28in tall, said she overcame bullying to become globally famous for her size.

Speaking at her home in Kadirli, Turkey, sahe said: 'I always hoped that one day the world would recognise me.

'It was hard when I was a child because all my classmates used to tease me for being small.

'But now I am famous because of my size. So it makes me feel like I am much taller.'

'I hope to travel and to meet lots of people including the tallest man in the world.

'God made me the way I am and I am proud of that. I hope I can find someone who will love me one day.'

The 21-year-old, who suffers from dwarfism, lives with her parents Ibrahim and Hatun and was also recently certified as the second-smallest adult human alive by the Guiness Book of Records.

The only adult she is taller than is Nepalese man Khagendra Thapa Magar who at 25.8 inches is the world's smallest person.

'There were no problems in my pregnancy with her and I gave birth naturally,' said her mother Hatun.

'She weighed 3lbs 10oz when she was born and was a normal baby. We never noticed any problems until she was one.

'Then we noticed she seemed to be growing more slowly than other babies.'

Ibrahim and Hatun, who also have a normal-sized son, took her for tests but doctors could not tell them what was wrong with Hatice.

Hatice continued to develop into a little girl and learned to walk and talk, but she hardly grew at all.

'She seemed to always stay the same size,' said Hatun.

'By the time she was four it looked like she had stopped growing.

'We asked the doctors to help, but they couldn't tell us what the problem was.

'We hoped she might start growing later on, but she never did.

'By the time she was ten, we realised she would always be this way.'

The parents said Hatice went for general medical checks every few years, where she was weighed and measured.

Finally they were told her condition may be due to a bone disorder caused by faulty genes carried by both parents.

The family live in a tiny home in a poor and remote area of the country.

They do not have a car and could not afford to travel to seek help for their daughter.

Hatice suffers from hip dysplasia and has a back problem, but has never received treatment for this.

Surgeons in the region are not skilled enough to operate on Hatice because of her size.

Hatice, who weighs just 15lbs, went to a special school but has never been able to find work.

Now she stays at home with her parents and likes to help her mum doing small jobs.

Hatice has always dreamed of becoming famous and news about her tiny size began to spread as she got older.

Finally an investigator for the Guinness Book of Records visited the area to see the family.

Hatice and her mum were invited to Istanbul where she was finally named the world's smallest woman.

Hatice says: 'I can carry little things and clean a little.

'I am happy living with my family. But I would like to be stronger, so I can do more things for myself.'

World’s fattest woman is warned after hitting FIFTY STONE

A woman believed to be the world's fattest at 50 stone (700lbs) is facing a battle to shed weight after being told by doctors she could die.

Terri Smith is confined to her bedroom in her Ohio home unable to move, stand or roll over by herself.

Suffering from severe headaches which doctors fear could stem from a brain problem, Terri urgently needs a brain scan - but is too big to fit inside an MRI machine.

To undergo the scan and receive the life-saving treatment she may require, Terri is now embarking on a weight loss regime of exercise and healthy eating.

She relies on her husband Myron, 44, and oldest daughter Najah, 30, to do everything for her.

The 49-year-old must be washed, fed and dressed on the bed and wears nappies which her daughter and husband change.

'My husband is my guardian angel,' said Terri.

'He's stuck by me through everything. Most men would have left a long time ago and who could blame them but Myron is a living saint.'

Terri was always large - at age seven she weighed almost eight stone (112lbs).

'My nickname at school was fatso,' she said. 'No one wanted me on their sports team and that didn't help the fat.

'We grew up on soul food and no one thought anything about it.

'That's just what people did where I'm from. We never watched what we ate at all and we didn't know what was healthy and what wasn't.'

By the age of 20 Terri weighed 18 stone (252lbs) but she remained active and held a job as a mental health care worker for 20 years.

'I used to help people wash, feed and dress themselves,' she said.

'Back then I never thought that the tables would turn and someone would be doing all that stuff for me.'

After marrying her husband in 1986 Terri was big but happy.

'I prayed for a man like Myron and he came to me,' she said  'He's kind, gentle and he loves me for who I am. Even now he tells me I'm pretty, that man is amazing.'

But she continued to eat the same diet and kept on growing, while her husband and daughter stayed slim.

Terri, who suffers severe headaches, needs an MRI scan to check for a potential brain tumour but is too big to fit in any scanners or into the doors of a hospital clinic.

She faces a race against time to lose weight in a bid to qualify for gastric surgery to save her life.

When Terri was 32 she developed severe arthritis in her knees and couldn't walk for more than a few steps.

She was given an electric wheelchair and the lack of exercise made the weight pile on.

'I used to walk everywhere and be on my feet at work but suddenly I was trapped,' she said.

As the years passed her weight ballooned until she could hardly stand.

Then, after her doctor changed her diuretic medication, she gained a staggering 6.5 stone (91lb) in 30 days. She suddenly found herself bedbound and has been trapped for almost three years.

Dr. Dariush Saghafi said: "I have been seeing Terri for six months.

'Caring for someone of Terri's size is very difficult. It is very hard to move and transport her. Hospitals do not have equipment to hold someone of her girth.

'Terri needs an MRI but there are no machines in the region big enough to take her weight.

'We thought that it might be possible for Terri to have an MRI at the Cleveland Zoo in the machine used for the elephants and rhinos but the zoo does not have a  licence for humans.

'We're hoping the Cleveland clinic can find an MRI for Terri.'

Couple spends 35 years filling their home with 6,788 cans

It is the dream of millions of men to live in a house filled to the brim with beer cans.

For Nick West, that dream is a reality, even if all the tins are empty.

The Lloyds Bank worker, 51, has a collection of 6,788 British beer cans in his home in Clevedon, North Somerset.

He even forked out £1,240 for one of the first cans produced in Britain, a half-pint of Felinfoel pale ale from a brewery in South Wales.

His obsession stems back to Christmas 1975 when his future wife Deborah bought him a book about collecting beer cans when they were both 16.

Mr West said: 'Deborah sort of encouraged me and has regretted it ever since. She wasn't very happy when we had to move house to find somewhere bigger for the collection.

'She said that if we had stayed where we were, we would have paid off the mortgage by now.'

The West family's last home had to have an extension built to house the ever-growing collection. Their latest, in Clevedon, is a five-bedroom Victorian property.

There are no prizes for guessing that the largest bedroom has gone not to Mr and Mrs West, nor to either of their children, Emma, 23, and Tom, 21, but to beer cans that are stacked from floor to ceiling.

Mr West does, however, drink the beer in the cans - although it is not simply a case of tugging off the ring pull and drinking the contents before placing the can in his collection.

He said: 'You pierce the bottom with two holes, drain out the contents, drink them if you wish, then photograph the can for your records and find it the right place on the shelves.

'Cans with widgets are a nightmare because they tend to spray their contents all over the ceiling, which isn't good.'

He began his collection with a small grey can of Heineken - brought home by his parents - and has since attempted to obtain an example of every sort of canned beer ever produced in Britain, including special offers and commemorative promotions, by scouring eBay and the internet.

Pensioner lands record-breaking 8ft 2in flatfish that weighed more than 34 stone

A 70-year-old angler will have no need to visit his local chippie for the foreseeable future - after reeling in a record-breaking halibut that weighed more than 34 stone.

Gunther Hansel spent more than two hours battling with the 8ft 2in flatfish while on a trip to Iceland's Western Fjords.

And when he finally got his prize alonhgside his fishing boat, the German pensioner needed the help of five crewmates to haul the beast aboard.

The monster fish weighed in at a mighty 482lbs 13ozs - big enough to serve up almost 1,000 individual fillets.

But rather than shop around for a bigger freezer, Gunther sold his prize catch for around £2,500 once he returned to shore.

Gunther, from Magdeburg near Berlin, said afterwards: 'This is the fish I have been fishing for all my life.'

He used a 30lb line and a plastic lure to snare the fish.

Halibut thrive in cold north Atlantic waters and can reach up to 15 feet in length.

The previous record for a halibut was held by anglers Bosse Carlsson and Hans-Olov Nilsson who caught a 464lbs speciman off Norway in July 2009.

World's largest toast portrait as birthday card!!! Wonderful gift!

When you're trying to come up with a really unusual birthday present, it pays to use your loaf.

In the case of Laura Hadland, she used 600 of them.

The 27-year-old museum curator turned a photo of her mother-in-law, Sandra Whitfield, into the world's largest toast mosaic - comprising 9,852 slices.

Mrs Hadland roped in 40 friends to help her make the tribute, which she describes as 'a treat made with love and a sense of randomness'.

They used a battery of nine toasters to brown the slices of bread to varying degrees before arranging it to make the 32ft 8in by 42ft 3in picture at an arts venue in Mrs Whitfield's home town of Warrington, Cheshire.

After spending six hours painstakingly perfecting the image, Laura surprised her husband Mike's mother with the unusual portrait to celebrate her 50th birthday.

The enormous picture was confirmed yesterday as having set a new Guinness World Record as the largest toast mosaic.

Laura, from Leicester, said: 'It's great to have broken the record - what an awesome day. I'm thrilled my best mates come together to make our mark on history and celebrate Sandra's birthday at the same time - it's a birthday card like no other.

'As a museum curator, I spend lots of time with Roman mosaics so it was great fun to make a modern one out of my favourite food - everyone loves toast.

'It's a treat for Sandra made with much love and a sense of randomness. She's certainly not a stereotypical mother in law, she's one of my best friends and I love her.'

Mrs Whitfield, a divorced mother of two, cried with joy when she saw the unusual birthday gift. She said: 'It was certainly a massive shock. I love toast but it feels very strange seeing my face made out of it.

'I'm really overwhelmed because they have gone to so much effort. Laura really is the best daughter in law you could wish for. It's been the best birthday present ever and I'm now a world record holder.'

The toast mosaic - 128 square metres of browned and scorched bread - was officially named the world's largest at 5pm on October 17 at Warrington's Parr Hall by Guinness World Records adjudicator Claire Burgess. The previous record holder measured 121.93 square metres and was created by staff and students at a school in Eindhoven, Netherlands, in February.

Nepalese boy on course to be youngest to climb Everest... at the age of 10

A nine-year-old Nepalese boy is on course to becoming the youngest person to climb the world's highest mountain, Everest.

Tseten Sherpa, who scaled a 6,000-metre (19,700-foot) peak last week, could beat the record set by American Jordan Romero, who was 13 when he managed the feat in May.

According to Nepalese law, climbers must be over the age of 16, but Tseten's determined father, Pemba Dorje Sherpa, is seeking special dispensation so his son can make his attempt in April, when he will be 10.

The child climbed Mount Ramdung in eastern Nepal last Wednesday, and Pemba Dorje Sherpa - a reknowned climber himself - said he wanted his son to become the youngest person ever to reach the Everest summit.

Pemba Dorje Sherpa, who holds the world record for the fastest ascent of Everest - it took him eight hours and 10 minutes - said earlier this year he wanted to find a Nepalese child to beat Romero's record.

'I think all the Everest records should be held by Nepalese people,' he had said. 'Nepal is a small country and we do not get much good publicity.

But tourism ministry official Baburam Bhandari has warned that the government would not allow the climber to take his son on to the mountain.

'We will not let him climb Mount Everest,' he said. 'Our climbing regulations clearly state that you must be at least 16.'

Everest straddles Nepal and China, and Romero obtained his permit to climb from China, which did not have any age restrictions at that time.

His climb provoked criticism from many in the mountaineering community, however.

David Hillebrandt, medical adviser to the British Mountaineering Council, said: 'It was totally against the spirit of true mountaineering.'

He also questioned whether Romero was sufficiently mature to make the decision to climb.

But the acting president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association, Nima Numa Sherpa, said that the boy's background as a local child used to climbing the rugged Himalayan terrain could work in his favour against the restrictions.

'It is different for mountain people living in the Himalayas to somebody coming from abroad,' he said.

'If the boy is accompanied by his father, and he is from the local Himalayan region, then I don't consider this a big issue.'

Around 3,000 people have climbed Everest since Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first people to conquer the 8,848-metre (29,028-foot) peak in 1953.

Several hundred have died, many of them falling to their deaths or succumbing to altitude sickness during the gruelling ascent.

World's Widest Mouth..this record holder can crammed his mouth with a can of coke!!!

A man who can fit a whole can of pop in his jaws sideways has been recognised as having a world-record sized mouth.

Francisco Domingo Joaquim's 6.69 inches wide rubbery yap has earned him the bizarre title of the 'World's Widest Mouth' by the Guinness Book of World Records.

The 20-year-old, who is also known as the Angolan Jaw of Awe, put his elastic skills to the test at the the 'Big Mouth' competition in Rome this month.

Contestants crammed their cake holes with a whole host of items including saucers, coffee cups and beer bottles but nobody's mouth could beat Francisco and his can of coke.

He shot to stardom performing his jaw-dropping talent on the streets of Luanda, capital of Angola, and even performed on an Italian TV show, popping a can in and out of his mouth 14 times in one minute.

Francisco, known as Chiquinho, and his unique talent was discovered by Guinness Book of World Record researchers scouring YouTube.

After two years of searching, they tracked him down to his hometown in Angola.
Since then Francisco has become an Internet sensation with his videos racking up thousands of hits.

Joaquim said it was a 'dream come true' to be honoured by Guinness World Records.

Giant cabbage, 5ft in width and 80lb in weigh

Let's hope the neighbours like cabbage. Amateur gardener Jimmy Hill is promising to share his crop with them and, judging by this picture, there's a lot to go round.

Mr Hill, 53, has grown a row of the monster vegetables, the biggest of which is 5ft across and will weigh 80lb when it's ready to cut.

Mechanic Mr Hill also grows onions, carrots and cucumbers in the rear garden of his home in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset.

It is not his first bumper crop and in previous years he and wife Jackie, 51, have run out of ideas about how to eat them.

'I like them and my wife is a wonderful cook but I have to admit there are only so many ways you can cook them, so I reckon we'll give them away to neighbours.

'People say I should enter shows but for me it's just a hobby.'

World's biggest chocolate bar in ... Armenia! .....224in long, 110in wide and 10in thick.

When one thinks of the world centres in the art of chocolate-making the countries that spring to mind are Belgium and Switzerland.

But Armenia?

The tiny country sandwiched between Turkey, Azerbaijan, Iran and Georgia has just produced the world's biggest chocolate bar.

The Grand Candy factory in Yerevan, the capital of the former republic of the Soviet Union, has just unveiled the 9,702lb monster.

Guinness World Record's representative Elizabeth Smith presented the factory owner Karen Vardanyan with an official certificate during a ceremony today.

She said she was glad to witness what she described as an 'incredible event'.

Ms Vardanyan said that the chocolate bar was produced to mark the tenth anniversary of the company. The previous record was set in Italy in 2007.

The bar, containing cocoa beans from Ghana, is 224in long, 110in wide and 10in thick.

It will be divided up and handed out to members of the public next month.

The loneliest child..she couldn't afford to have friends. Find out why?

Little Bea Todd is unable to play with other children because her immune system is so weak she could die if she catches a cold.

Bea was born with a severe immune system deficiency which means she has to be kept away from other children her age.  She has to avoid playgrounds and birthday parties because her body is so weak that she would be unable to fight off a common cold.

The three-year-old has spent most of her young life in hospital but was allowed home in February following a bone marrow transplant.

Now a charity has built her her own special playground in the family's Norfolk back garden to raise Bea's spirits.

Her mother Anna Todd, 33, said: 'To have a playground in the back garden is great. Now she can go out and play whenever she wants.  She's out there everyday without fail even making it to the top of the climbing wall. It's incredible to think she couldn't even walk back in February. '

Anna, a former textile conservator at National Trust, said it had been 'heartbreaking' to watch her daughter staring at other children playing at her local park.

She said: 'I used to drive her up to the local playground and if it was busy and there were children playing I'd have to turn around and go home.

'She would see other kids and say "Oh dear Mummy, we can't go today there are too many children". It was heartbreaking.

'Her immune system is so fragile and low she can pick up anything quicker and easier and her body does not have the strength to fight them.

'We cannot afford to let her play with any kids we don't know. If they have a cough, a virus or chicken pox - these things could be life-threatening.

'We can't go swimming, toddler groups or nursery. She can't even go to other kid's birthday parties or have children here at home.'

Bea was diagnosed with juvenile arthritis and HRH hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis after suffering a rash when she was five months old.

She spent several days in intensive care at West Suffolk Hospital, in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, and a further six months in hospital.

Bea underwent a bone marrow transplant at London's Great Ormond Street Hospital when she was aged just two-years-old. She then braved chemotherapy and spent two weeks in intensive care before living for four months on an isolation ward.

Bea was allowed home in February but needs a Hickman Line and tube in her nose to administer medication and has platelet transfusions every two days.

The treatment she has undergone has been so intensive that her immune system has been left too weak to defend itself.

Anna and Bea's father Chris Peck, 34, who works as a telecoms consultant, have to keep their house spotless.

The couple, who plan to marry, clean the house from top to bottom every two days and hoover each morning to keep the germs away.  They only allow relatives children if they have been screened for any health problems and illnesses.

Anna added: 'We have learned to live with it otherwise we would go mad. We watch her very carefully and take every precaution.

'She's used to not spending time with other children and become fairly imaginative and very good on her own.

'To have a playground in the back garden is great. Now she can go out and play whenever she wants.  She's out there everyday without fail even making it to the top of the climbing wall. It's incredible to think she couldn't even walk back in February.

'We keep telling ourselves its not going to be like this forever. We are getting through the complications and we really hope to send her to school next year.'