Nineteen year-old Jyoti Amge, who stands at just 24.7 inches tall, helped launch the 2014 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records atop the Empire State Building on Thursday, the Huffington Post reports.
Amge, who is planning on attending college soon, hails from Nagpur, India, and weighs just 12 pounds. Her recent trip to New York City marked her first visit to the U.S., which included a visit to the Statue of Liberty and Times Square. The teen has big dreams for her future, as having already appeared in a Bollywood movie, she plans on pursuing a career in Hollywood, according to the Daily Mail.
"I am proud of being small," she told The Sun in an interview last year. "I have the same thoughts and the same dreams as you. I would like to be an actress in Hollywood and win an Oscar. The only difference is my height."
Amge has a form of dwarfism called achondroplasia, which means she stopped growing after her first birthday. Her bones are brittle and delicate, so she will likely need special care for the rest of her life. Every time she goes out, she is accompanied by her mother Ranjana, 55, or family and friends.
"It's hard for me to reach things," Amge told the Huffington Post. "It's good I have brothers and sisters to help."
One of the things she got to reach on Thursday was a pair of binoculars at the observation deck of the Empire State Building, giving her an incredible view of Manhattan for the first time.
When her mother Ranjana was in the final stages of her pregnancy, doctors were confounded by her sonograms, and she knew that something was wrong. She was fearful she would never get to hold her baby in her arms, but now, her daughter is not only healthy, but happy and famous, getting to travel the world with her family.
"All the bad feelings are erased, replaced by good ones," she told the Huffington Post. "We are lucky."
Click here to see photos of Jyoti Amge at the top of the Empire State Building for the launch of the 2014 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records.
