Mystery solved: The 200 year old condition this blue-skinned family passed down by incest

A family living in an isolated community experienced the shocking consequences of inbreeding - their skin turned blue.

The Fugates, a rural Kentucky family known since the 1800s, were affected by an incredibly rare blood disorder that resulted in their skin turning blue, a condition perpetuated through generations due to interbreeding among their ancestors.

The tale begins with Martin Fugate, who migrated from France to the United States around 1820, seeking a fresh start in Troublesome Creek, Kentucky. It's believed he was born with blue skin and abandoned at an orphanage as an infant because his parents were appalled by his skin colour. This revelation follows a filmmaker's unsettling encounter with an inbred family.

In the 1960s, a blood specialist finally identified the condition that had baffled doctors for years - methemoglobinemia, a rare disorder that causes an unusually high amount of methemoglobin, a type of haemoglobin, to be produced, reports the Mirror US.

This results in extremely dark, blue-coloured blood that is visible through the skin.

While residing in Kentucky, Martin met and married Elizabeth Smith who, astonishingly, carried the recessive gene for the same exceptionally rare condition. They had seven children together, four of whom reportedly had blue skin, according to the Mirror.

The minuscule hamlet of Troublesome Creek was extraordinarily isolated, with no routes leading away and merely four other households in residence: the Combs, the Richies, the Smiths, and the Stacys. This seclusion resulted in generations of inbreeding, maintaining the methemoglobinemia gene and the ongoing arrival of 'blue' offspring.

Zacharia, one of Martin and Elizabeth's offspring, took his own aunt as his bride, whilst another son married a near relative. Luna Fugate, a woman from this bloodline, was documented as being "blue all over" with lips as "dark as a bruise".

Luna subsequently wed John Stacy during the latter part of the 19th century, bearing 13 children who remained well apart from their azure colouring, notwithstanding the dangers linked to methemoglobinemia, including developmental complications and fits.

The mystery surrounding the Fugates' cerulean complexion was eventually solved during the 1960s by blood specialist Madison Cawein. Whilst working at the University of Kentucky, he came across two blue-skinned patients at a neighbourhood surgery, and after eliminating cardiac and respiratory illness, he concluded they were afflicted with methemoglobinemia - a disorder typically passed down through families but also caused by particular medications or chemical contact.

Dr Cawein conducted trials by administering a blue colourant, methylene, to certain family members, theorising they were missing a particular enzyme. Whilst this intervention briefly restored normal skin tone, it would invariably return to its original state.

He subsequently advised the family to consume daily tablets to control their azure appearance. In 1975, Benjamin Stacy was born with skin as "blue as Lake Louise", a condition that caught the public's eye, according to ABC News.

Just hours after his birth, he was rushed to the University of Kentucky Medical Center for a blood transfusion until his grandmother suggested his resemblance to the Fugates of Troublesome Creek.

It was later discovered that his great-grandmother was Luna Fugate, who was described as the "bluest" woman ever seen.

Hazel Fugate, a surviving member of the Fugate family, confirmed that the condition still exists today. She revealed that her husband, Gary, aged 69 and a descendant of Martin's, suffers from methemoglobinemia.

Although not as pronounced as his ancestors, Hazel noted that in the dark, "the colour of his skin is a blue purple" and has become more noticeable with age.

The couple shared that their son also had the same condition at birth but reportedly outgrew it by the age of five. Similarly, their daughter seemed to be affected only for a few months.