When a friend forwarded me this link, I couldn't get past the tabloid-esque headline and assumed the story was fake. However, considering that the Telegraph is a well-respected and widely circulated British newspaper, and other news sources have ran the same story, I guess it's for real.

For the lazy, here's an excerpt:

Pruthviraj Patil, 11, is one of just 50 people in the world with the rare genetic condition, called hypertrichosis.

 

Pruthviraj's family have tried a range of treatments - including homeopathy, traditional Indian Ayurvedic remedies and more recently laser surgery – but none has proved successful.

 

Now, following a worldwide appeal to doctors to help him find a permanent cure, scientists at Columbia University, in New York, believe they might have found one - by injecting the patient with testosterone. 

This blew my mind for a few reasons:

First, Wolf Boy is real! If there are 50 people in the world with werewolf syndrome, are their others with vampire syndrome? Zombie syndrome? Witch syndrome? Is Big Foot just an unusually tall man with hypertrichosis like poor Pruthviraj? The possibilities are endless!

Second, Wolf Boy is on campus on a regular basis. Forget about James Franco, Anna Wintour's daughter, W's neice, or even Blake LIvely, I want to meet this kid pronto.

Third, Columbia is taking the lead in racing for the cure. It's too bad the world is too unkind to allow Pruthviraj to rock the wolf look, but it's legit that Columbia is involved in trying to make things better. The Columbia I know is a cold and disillusioning bureaucracy, so it's nice to know that someone here has a heart.

For more info, check out the Telegraph's sidebar "Werewolf Boy Begs for Cure to Rare Condition" and The Sun's coverage, "Tragic Story of the 'Wolf Boy.'"