Baby’s White Streak in Hair Keeps Family’s 200-Year Heritage Alive
“It’s exciting to see it continue on in the family."
— -- One baby is keeping her family's legacy alive with her streak of white hair.
Ronda King McCullough, of Wilmington, North Carolina, said her granddaughter was born with the unique trait that dates back to the 1800s.
"My older sister, she kept hold of all of the family albums after my mom passed," King-McCullough, 49, told ABC News. "That's how we were able to get the dates. My mom had it, her mother had it, her mother, and then a brother and then it goes back from there. When my kids had it I was really astounded by what God had done and then my grandchildren had it, it blew my mind."
Aaliyah Richardson, born on Nov. 10, is one of five living relatives who has a white streak in her hair, King-McCullough said.
Tina Heyer, King-McCullough’s sister, said it's exciting that the birthmark has survived so many generations.
"We've been getting other calls and emails from families that say they have it. It's just amazing how many people are coming forward now," Heyer, 57, said.
Heyer and King-McCullough's maternal great-great-great-grandmother had a white streak in her hair. Their great-grandmother, Josephine Hankins, also had a streak and it trickled down to King-McCullough who was the only one out of her five siblings to be born with it.
King-McCullough's two sons, Johnnathun and Zan have it as well.
King-McCullough's son Antonio was not born with the mark, but her two granddaughters, Layla, 5, and baby Aaliyah were.
King-McCullough said she never learned what the exact technical term was for her family's special distinction.
"I just never took the time to search it out and I just told my kids, 'It's loss of pigmentation,'" she said. "A lot of people definitely think it's cool and it's gone viral. Growing up, I didn't like it. But once I got older, I was able to embrace it."
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