'No one believes we're identical twins': Heartbreaking story of the brothers battling a cruel genetic disorder that's left one disfigured and the other with no memory

Adam and Neil Pearson, 31, from Croydon, suffer from neurofibromatosis, a genetic condition which affects them very differently. 


Adam (left) has huge benign tumours all over his face and is slowly going blind, while Neil (right) battles short term memory loss and epilepsy. As part of a BBC Horizon programme tonight, they tell their story - and seek to find out whether the condition will tear apart their lives. Bullied as a teenager, it would have been easy for Adam to become depressed at the stark difference between he and his brother's looks. But in the documentary, he says he remains free of bitterness. He said: 'Once I started thinking like them the bullies had won. It's about the life you have, not the one you don't. It wasn't an emotionally productive thing to do. For me, it's all I've ever known. It's very much a part of me. It would have been like asking: "Why am I this tall?"'