Doctors reveal surgical miracle which saved China’s ‘folded man’
- Senior surgeon says deformity was so severe Li Hua would have died without the operations which straightened his spine
- Bones were broken and reformed but greatest challenge was getting oxygen to patient’s lungs during surgery
China’s “folded man” Li Hua has a rare condition that left him with a severely deformed spine. In the final of a three-part series, we look at the challenges faced by the team of doctors in Shenzhen who helped him to stand straight again.
Li, a 47-year-old from rural Hunan province, was “folded” in three places – with his chin on his chest, sternum on pubis, and his face less than 3cm from his thighs. The deformation was caused by ankylosing spondylitis, an immune system disorder affecting the spine and hip joints.
Li first experienced symptoms when he was 18 but his condition was initially misdiagnosed as arthritis. When it was finally identified as AS, doctors told him they could do nothing because his body was by then too seriously bent over.
Finally, in June of last year, Tao Huiren, director of the department of spinal surgery at the Shenzhen University General Hospital, told him he would “have a try”. But, although he was familiar with the condition, Tao had never seen such a serious case.