THE FOLDED MAN

When Li Hua was 19, he developed a debilitating case of ankylosing spondylitis, a rare type of arthritis that, over the years, caused the farmer from rural China to slowly collapse forward, folding at the waist.

He struggled to walk and eat properly and, from the age of 35, he became known as China’s only ‘three-on’ patient – his chin was on his chest, his sternum on his pubis and his face on his femur.

His internal organs were under constant pressure and the condition would eventually be fatal.

Li Hua’s mother Tang Dongchen did everything for him, but, getting older, she worried for his future.

‘If he isn’t cured and I die, who will take care of him?’ she fretted.

In 2019, when Li Hua was 45, surgeons from the Shenzhen University General Hospital spent time carefully devising a plan. Over months, with Professor Tao Huiren at the helm, the ‘folded man’ underwent four risky surgeries where his bones were broken and straightened.

From the perspective of medical skills required, ‘it was like climbing Mount

Everest,’ Professor

Tao told The Sun.

Months of rehabilitation followed as Li Hua learned to stand upright, take steps with a walker and eventually walk on his own again. After a year in hospital, he was allowed home in time to celebrate his 46th birthday.

Li Hua now runs a shop for a living and loves his new found freedom, especially being able to sleep on his back. ‘Professor Tao is my saviour,’ he said. ●