15 people reveal unique traits they have that only 1% of the population possess

People across the world have survived extreme accidents, been born with rare mutations, or experienced things that few others ever will. Some were born with unusual talents, while others discovered something extraordinary about themselves later in life. These eccentricities make them stand out, placing them among the rare 1% of the population.

A Reddit user asked the community what puts them in the rare 1%. The thread was flooded with people sharing their unique abilities, unusual circumstances, and rare experiences. We sifted through over 35,000 responses to bring you 15 of the most fascinating ones that will leave you amazed.

1. Gifted with genetic mutation

"I have a double gene mutation that makes me highly resistant or even immune to HIV." -u/Som12H8. "HLA B27. Doing a bit more reading, I got a little mixed up; the gene is indeed associated with an extremely strong response to Yersinia species microbes (black plague was Yersinia Pestis, for instance), but may confer increased susceptibility to Malaria rather than increased resistance (which I was thinking of). HLA B27 does appear to have a protective association against HIV and Hepatitis C though, which is nice, I guess. I found out because I woke up one morning with severe photosensitivity, to the point I was effectively blind. A year after that, persistent back pain due to ankylosing spondylitis and rarely had passing bouts of psoriasis and joint inflammation. All of these are linked to the same gene." -u/Beer_in_an_esky

2. Survived the fall

"I fell off a 100-foot cliff and landed head-first on rocks. It broke my neck and back and smashed up a lot of my body. I had to travel about a mile to find help immediately after the fall. The doctor said I caused more damage by trying to walk for help but would have bled out if I stayed where I fell. 15 months later, I was powerlifting and ran a half marathon. Should not be alive, much less be able to walk." -u/Rauglothgor

3. Miraculous survival

"Surviving a crossbow to the head. Directly between the eyes. Only one other person has been documented as surviving a crossbow head impact, and they became brain-dead. Not only did I survive, but I still have enough brain function to type this out and even go to work on a daily basis. I'm very blessed to be here, and I do my best to not take it for granted. Apparently, more people have survived this than I originally knew, and that's kinda cool to know!" -u/TayaradgaReport

4. Backward heart

"Not me, but my dad. He was born with a backward heart and didn’t find out till his heart attack a few years ago and it actually saved his life. His doctor later told him that after being a doctor for over 30 years, he’d never seen someone with a backward heart and that apparently, 1% of people on the planet have it." -u/SaphireJames

5. Having two uterus

"Mine's pretty godawful. I have 2 uteruses. A lot of people asked why I put up with it till I was around 33. I didn't know. Because doctors don't listen to women complaining of menstrual issues, that is why. The endless pain and bleeding? Suck it up, take 3 Advil, not two (holla). Starting at age 12. Till I lucked into a rare empathetic gynecologist who, since I'd always known I was uninterested in parenting, offered me a minimally invasive (just removes the top of the uterus, the rest of me stayed there) hysterectomy to stop the pain and hemorrhaging. And in doing the surgery, he discovered what no other doctor had cared enough to find." -u/therookling

6. Prone to miscarriages

"Only 2% of pregnant women experience 2 miscarriages in a row. Only 1% of women experience 3 miscarriages in a row. I have had 5 miscarriages in a row and I fully hate any type of statistics now. Statistics used to make me feel safe. Now I just know how easy it is to be on the wrong side of them. Thank you for sharing your support and your stories. I feel for so many of you who also make up the 1% (or less than 1% I guess). Sending all the love and healing your way if you’re in this same sucky boat as me." -u/hedgehug17

7. Crash survivor

"I’ve been in 2 helicopter crashes and 1 plane crash. There is only a small group of people who have survived that many crashes. I’m also not a pilot." -u/No1uNo_Nakana

8. Can't think in pictures

"I suffer from a relatively harmless phenomenon called Aphantasia. I am incapable of conjuring images inside my head. I know what object or thing I’m supposed to think about but all I see is nothing. When I dream, I know what’s happening and what I’m supposed to see, but it’s just a whole lot of nothingness. I guess you could say I’m blind in my mind. Apparently, around 1% of the population suffers from this weird condition. Must be nice having a screen in your head that shows anything you can imagine." -u/temuulen1

9. Counting steps

"According to my step counter, walking. I'm not even kidding. I manage a warehouse and walk 10-15 miles a day at work. Apparently, this is more than 99.3% of users. Turns out the one thing I'm exceptional at is the one thing almost everyone can do. Yay." -u/FastWalkingShortGuy

10. Writing with both hands

"I’m naturally ambidextrous. Apparently, that’s something only 1% of people naturally are. I can use both right and left hands ably for any task. For example, I often switch which hand I write with based on how I’m sitting. It’s worth noting natural ambidexterity is not the same as learned or acquired ambidexterity. For example, left-handed people often have to use things designed for right-handed people but otherwise are left-handed." -u/Stromaen

11. Unique recognition ability

"I am a super recognizer. Super recognizer is a term coined in 2009 by Harvard researchers for people with significantly better-than-average face recognition ability. I am not in 1 percent to be precise actually, it is around 2%, but wanted to share anyway. There is a free online test for you to check if you are one as well." -u/gokhansan97

12. Reader's achievement

"According to Amazon, I'm in the top 1% of Kindle readers. They keep track of these things and within the last couple of years, started sharing the information with users as seasonal achievements. At the end of the Spring season, they sent out emails with the final data: from April 1st to June 31st, I read: 74 days. For a total of 193 hours. I don't really have a social life. As though that wasn't clear enough from the stats." -u/2percentright

13. Vaccination doesn't work

"Not as interesting or cool as others, but I'm in the 1% of the population that has no immunity to Rubella even though I've been vaccinated for it several times. Apparently, some people's bodies don't take to some vaccinations. Fine with everything else like mumps, measles, etc. It's just the rubella. I've also got type 2 Duane syndrome in my right eye. Duanes is an uncommon eye condition anyway, the right eye being the least common to have in type 2 the least common of its type out of the 3 types. Won the Duanes lottery with that one." -u/totallythrownawaay

14. Too much sweat

"Hyperhidrosis. Excessively sweaty armpits for no reason. I could be sitting there completely at ease and sweat rolls down my sides from my pits. I have found a product to fix the issue. However, I know no one else who has the same issue personally." -u/mushroommadamReport

15. Infertility

"Infertile people. The people who can’t have children after a year of trying, for whom no treatment works, have no diagnosis to explain why and end up the 1% of the 1% and move on to surrogacy/gestational carrier." -u/Reepicheepee