Man Folded For 28 Years Able To Stand Straight Following Risky Surgery
MAN FOLDED FOR 28 YEARS – A man with a rare spinal deformity called ankylosing spondylitis in could now stand straight after undergoing risky surgery.
The man was named Li Hua, a 46-year-old from China. He was diagnosed with the disease in 1991 and had pain in his joints that forced him to become more hunchbacked over time.
Because of his severe physical deformity, he couldn’t sit up or lie flat. He had to rely on his elderly mother, who became his full-time carer.
According to an article from 9gag, after five years, his condition got worse. He had struggles eating, drinking, or even just lifting his head and only had a 5cm gap between his chin and thighs.
His family tried desperately to find help. However, they couldn’t afford the expensive surgery required. In addition to this, most medics themselves refused to do the surgery because it was a high risk to his life.
Luckily, in May of 2019, a Doctor from Shenzhen University General Hospital offered to operate on him. The surgery involved had 20-30 times the risk of the patient being paraplegic.
The Doctor, Professor Tao Huiren, who leads the spinal surgery and orthopaedics department said he had operated on similar patients before. However, he noted that he had never gotten one this severe.
The surgery was divided into four stages. Medics had to break and rebuild Li’s spine one section at a time. Following this, they then had to straighten his spinal column.
After the gruelling operation, Li could now move around with the help of a walker. In addition, records showed that this was the first time such a severe spinal deformity was corrected in China.
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