18-year-old Wildine Aumoithe is just 72 cm (28.3 in) tall as of October 13. Her short stature is due to a rare type of dwarfism called SADDAN dysplasia, which makes it difficult or impossible to walk. Aumoithe mostly relies on a motorized wheelchair to get around.
“I’m able to sit on the floor and move around but I can’t walk now because my legs are like, bowed legs, which is common with SADDAN dysplasia,” the Miami native said.
When she was born, doctors didn’t know if she could make it through the night, let alone to her 18th birthday. Aumoithe said doctors actually sent her to a hospice for six months to see if she was going to die, but she didn’t. “After that they gave me to my mom,” she said.
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Her mom Wilda has over the years been her best friend who helps her with everything. It’s been tough but the two have since forged “a special and unbreakable bond”. Aumoithe’s mom does not work so that she can be with her all the time to cater to her needs.
“If it wasn’t for her, I don’t know what my life would be,” Aumoithe said of her mom. Today, the 18-year-old is the first person in her family to hold a record. She recently earned the Guinness World Record for being the shortest non-mobile woman. Her measurements were taken three times on October 13. Guinness World Records adjudicator Michael Empric, who oversaw the measuring process, presented Aumoithe with her certificate.
Aumoithe, who is also proud to be the first Haitian American to hold a short woman world record, said her main motivation for earning the record was to inspire other people like her. “I want to show the world that even though I am short I am able to live my best life and I can conquer this world even though this world was not built for me,” she told Guinness World Records.
Aumoithe has three other siblings. She had an older brother who passed away due to sleep apnea. Aumoithe also suffers from that disorder along with asthma. Despite the challenges, Aumoithe said she has learned to stay positive. She said she has never been bullied due to her Dwarfism.
“I know that’s surprising as I know most little people do get bullied at school.”
“The only issue I have with it is people staring at me when I go out in public. But that’s the normal for little people.”
Aumoithe, who is going to college to study Pharmacy, started a YouTube channel, Life Of Wildine, in February 2020 where she helps spread awareness about Dwarfism while letting people see how she lives her life as a little person.
Many say that records are meant to be made and then broken, only for new ones to be made all over again. Since its inception in 1955, the Guinness Book of World Records has been listing human records and achievements, and many people today are actively looking to have their names entered into the record book.
The previous record-holder for the shortest female living (non-mobile) was held by Madge Bester. Living in South Africa, she was 65 cm (25.5 in) tall and had Osteogenesis imperfecta, which is characterized by brittle bones and other deformities of the skeleton, Guinness World Records said. Madge sadly passed away on March 19, 2018.
Aumoithe, who now holds the record for the shortest female living (non-mobile), hopes to live long to do amazing things and inspire many more people. Her message to anyone who may see her as “different” is: “Height is just a number. Just because I’m a little person doesn’t mean I’m different to anybody else. I’m still human at the end of the day.”
