A Chinese farmer dubbed the 'folding man' can finally walk again after spending six months recovering from four consecutive, high-risk operations to fix his hunched back.
Li Hua, 46, was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis, a rare type of arthritis, at the age of 19. But his impoverished family from rural China could not afford to treat him.
He had been unable to stand upright, eat or walk properly for more than 25 years before the life-changing surgery, and had to rely on his elderly mother to look after him.
In the decade before the treatment, Mr Li's condition had been so severe he had lived with his face pressed tightly against his thighs - with just a 1.86 centimetre (0.7 inches) gap in between.
Surgeons performed the series of surgical procedures from June to December last year to 'open up' Mr Li's body, said the Shenzhen University General Hospital in southern China.
Accompanied by his 71-year-old mother, Mr Li had travelled nearly 500 miles from his home village in Yongzhou, southern China's Hunan Province, to cosmopolitan Shenzhen to seek medical attention.
A team of specialists at the hospital came up with a sophisticated, four-step plan to help Mr Li to stand up straight, and eventually walk again.
Medics had to remove the dead part of Mr Li's thigh bones before breaking up and straightening up different sections of his spines - around the neck, chest and waist - to help him raise his head and correct his posture.
At the end of the third procedure in September, he was able to lie down flat and look at his beloved mother properly for the first time in 26 years.
Surgeons then gave Mr Li a total hip replacement in the final operation to enable him to learn to walk again.
In the following six months, Mr Li remained in the hospital for recovery treatment.
Prof Tao Huiren, Director of the Department of Spine Diseases, said that Mr Li was discharged from the hospital last month after mainly recovering from the surgery.
He has returned to his home village and even opened up a small shop there to make a living while continuing with his recovery.
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Source: Daily Mail, The Sun, Metro
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Li Hua, 46, was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis, a rare type of arthritis, at the age of 19. But his impoverished family from rural China could not afford to treat him.
He had been unable to stand upright, eat or walk properly for more than 25 years before the life-changing surgery, and had to rely on his elderly mother to look after him.
In the decade before the treatment, Mr Li's condition had been so severe he had lived with his face pressed tightly against his thighs - with just a 1.86 centimetre (0.7 inches) gap in between.
Surgeons performed the series of surgical procedures from June to December last year to 'open up' Mr Li's body, said the Shenzhen University General Hospital in southern China.
Accompanied by his 71-year-old mother, Mr Li had travelled nearly 500 miles from his home village in Yongzhou, southern China's Hunan Province, to cosmopolitan Shenzhen to seek medical attention.
A team of specialists at the hospital came up with a sophisticated, four-step plan to help Mr Li to stand up straight, and eventually walk again.
Medics had to remove the dead part of Mr Li's thigh bones before breaking up and straightening up different sections of his spines - around the neck, chest and waist - to help him raise his head and correct his posture.
At the end of the third procedure in September, he was able to lie down flat and look at his beloved mother properly for the first time in 26 years.
Surgeons then gave Mr Li a total hip replacement in the final operation to enable him to learn to walk again.
In the following six months, Mr Li remained in the hospital for recovery treatment.
Prof Tao Huiren, Director of the Department of Spine Diseases, said that Mr Li was discharged from the hospital last month after mainly recovering from the surgery.
He has returned to his home village and even opened up a small shop there to make a living while continuing with his recovery.
Source: Daily Mail, The Sun, Metro
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/patryn.worldlatestnews
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