According to his birth certificate, Denis Vashurin was born in 1987, but looking at him you would swear he was still in his early teenage years.

Denis became one of the hottest topics on Russian social media after doing an interview with popular YouTube personality “Vasya na sene”. People can’t seem to get over how incredibly young he looks for a 32-year-old man, and Denis himself admits that whenever he reveals his age to people he doesn’t know he almost always gets reactions of disbelief. That’s why he prefers living in a small village in Russia’s Krasnoyarsk region, instead of moving to the city. Everybody knows him there, and he gets to spend time alone doing what he likes – hunting, fishing and spending time with his girlfriend.

Photo: Denis Vashurin/Instagram

In his interview with Vasya, Denis Vashurin revealed that his parents noticed he was not like other children at a very young age. He was always the smallest one in his age group, but that really didn’t bother him in the beginning. He was a very active child – some would even say hyperactive – he could do all the things the other kids could, and he never had to face any bullying.

As he aged, the difference between him and other kids his age became more obvious, and by his teenage years, it appeared as though he had stopped aging. His high-school graduation photo, for example, shows him looking like a child among fully-grown young adults.

“When I realized that I would no longer change physically, at first I felt somewhat uneasy,” Denis said. “I thought about how everything would be, how my life would go on, whether it would be hard for me.”

Although he has managed to lead a generally normal life, despite his unusual appearance, Vashurin admits that he sometimes has to explain and prove his real age. He remembers getting pulled over by traffic police once and being suspected of forging his driver’s licence. After confirming his age, the traffic policeman started making jokes about how young he looked, which he found inappropriate.

“Why do I have to explain something to someone every time?” the indignant 32-year-old asked rhetorically.

Denis says that even those who known him sometimes ask if he feels as young as he looks, but he says that despite his youthful appearance, his body ages at the same rate as other people his age. As for his personality, his friends and his girlfriend actually call him “grandpa”.

“I’m a bore, I’m stubborn, I’m lethargic, like a bear during hibernation,” Denis explained with a laugh.

The 32-year-old has been dating his girlfriend for four years now. Luckily, they’ve known each other for a long time, so he didn’t have to prove his real age to her.

While he is aware that his youthful looks may seem shocking to a lot of people, he only asks that he not be judged by his appearance alone.

“You cannot live my life,” he said.  “You do not know how you would live in my body, in my situation, what kind of person you would become. Therefore, do not judge.”

Denis Vashurin didn’t say whether he ever went to see a doctor about his condition, but his case is somewhat reminiscent of that Tomasz Nadolski, a 27-year-old man stuck in the body of a child. There was also the case of the 34-year-old man who stopped aging after a head injury.