Man stands straight after three decades

It took Li Hua around three decades to find a surgeon who could operate his severe spinal deformity and when it happened it came with a miracle, enabling him to stand up again.

The deformity was so critical that his spine was turned down, with his face just inches away from touching the thighs.

It all began in 1991, when Li Hua, 46, was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis, which saw pain in his joints, forcing him to become more and more hunchbacked over time.

According to the reports published in a British outlet, the severe spinal deformity left him unable to sit up or lie flat, leading him to heavily rely on his elderly mother who became his full time career. The situation further worsened during the past five years, leaving him struggling to eat, drink or lift his head. There was only a five-centimetre gap between his chin and thighs.

The patient’s family, from the city of Yongzhou in Central China’s Hunan Province, searched for help, but didn’t have the money to afford the surgery. Medics in his native province also refused to operate in 2018, claiming that any surgery would come with a high risk to his life.

However, his ‘saviour’ came along in May 2019 in the form of Professor Tao Huiren, who leads the spinal surgery and orthopaedics department at Shenzhen University General Hospital.

The doctor agreed to operate on him – despite the risk involved being 20 to 30 times that of a regular spinal surgery patient and the chance of him becoming paraplegic very high.

Read More: Smokers more likely to need spinal surgery: study

During the four-stage surgery, medics broke and rebuilt Li’s spine one section at a time, then straightened his entire spinal column. The surgery went well and he was allowed to sit up, then lift his head, then lie flat again.

Footages from AsiaWire show Li able to stand straight for the first time in 28 years and he now can move around with the help of a walker.

It was unbelievable scene for Li, who termed the doctor as his savior.

Professor Tao has assured that Li will regain normal movement following just two to three months of physical therapy. Although he might not be able to carry out excessive hard works but all regular bodily movements would not be a problem for him.