But Why Blue?
Tucked away from prying eyes, the Fugates’ unique blue tint remained a hidden curiosity until medical sleuths uncovered the truth behind their ethereal glow. Their blue skin, a hallmark of hereditary methemoglobinemia, resulted from a rare condition that darkened their blood, casting a gray-blue sheen through their skin.
The genetic lottery of Martin Fugate and Elizabeth Smith, blending a direct condition with a recessive gene, painted their lineage in shades of blue. This isolation, coupled with a close-knit gene pool, amplified the chances of passing this distinctive hue down through generations. While the vivid blue gradually faded over time, Benjamin Stacy, born in the 1970s, briefly continued the legacy, his skin adopting a more conventional hue as he aged.