Skip to main content

'Folded man’ stands up straight after 28 years following four successful surgery.

Inspired by video from South China Post. 


So yesterday, I watch a documentary about a folded man and his successful surgery. Well, the story I am going to share with you today is about Mr. Li Hua from the city of Yongzhou in central china’s Hunan province.  At the age of 18, he was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis. Ankylosing spondylitis is an inflammatory disease that, over time, can cause some of the small bones in your spine (vertebrae) to fuse. This fusing makes the spine less flexible and can result in a hunched-forward posture. If ribs are affected, it can be difficult to breathe deeply (Mayo Clinic, 2019).

Mr.Li did not have the financial means for proper treatment and relied on his elderly mother for 28 years and she was only his full-time carer. His entire upper body was folded onto lower limbs in permanent and he cannot lift his head to eat and drink. Later when his situation worsens over time, his family sought medical help from the native province in 2018 but was refused surgery because of the high risk associated with the operation.

However, in 2019,   Li’s family reached to Dr. Tao Huiren who is also a lead professor and surgeon at  Shenzhen University General Hospital. Dr. Tao has performed several surgeries related to spinal code and of similar to Mr.Li. However, Li’s condition was critical.

Dr. Tao accepts the challenge and agreed to perform surgery even though the case was difficult and risky. He informed Li’s mother about the risk associated with surgery that might end his life too. And here is her reply, “what if I die and he is still sick? Who will take care of him?”

That reply hit my mind and could not hold my tears. I cried alone in the quarantine center and missed my parents. With a little amount of penny they earn, they buy us cloth, food, mobile, and the list goes on. It made me miss you more my dear parents.

So to treat him, they have to break his bones and then straighten his entire spinal cord. The risk associated with him was 20-30 times more than normal spinal code surgery since they have to break and fix his bone.

Mr. Li had to go through four surgery. The first one is to break and reconstruct thigh bones, breaking and reconstructing his cervical spine, breaking and reconstructing his lumbar spine, and finally reconstructing the hip joint.  “My heart aches, of course it pains. But what else can we do? He has suffered over 20 years. He can endure pain, it is ok”.  Li’s mother said it firmly and affectionately.

After four successful surgeries, Li was finally able to lift his head and walk with the help of a walker. And hospital describes this surgery as summiting Mount Everest and it was recorded for the first time in China.

So today, Mr. Li is thankful to Dr. Tao and his team for saving his life. Of course, believes that he was lucky to have his mother at his difficult times.

 

Inspired by video on SouthChina post (youtube).



        Featured Image Credit: AsiaWire

 

 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Thank you

Popular posts from this blog

Social Worker's page - E-book

This book contains the collection of personal stories of student social workers from Samtse College of education. It is collection of student's personal experience over the years. Click the the link to read https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hwHx-GJYNowNr_pMkKSrhmYtezEWCQyQ/view?usp=sharing  

Beauitiful hike to Dungtsho (Conch lake) via phajoding, Thimphu

  Dungtsho trek is getting popular among Bhutanese. Even if not, it is true that the trek to lake is getting popular among the people who live in Thimphu. The trip is favorable for honeymoon among young couples, pilgrimage among elderly and week-end energy for office workers. It is two days journey from Thimphu- Motithang base camp.  Many travelers prefer to halt a night at Thuji Drak ( holy camp among young monks) and I recommend it unless you have strong legs to withstand speed of horse. On the next day, it is advisable to start the journey to the lake as early as 5 o’clock to enjoy the beautiful view of early sun on green summer mountains. What else you need to know? If you are planning a trip to Dungtsho, you might consider talking to someone who has been there recently to get updates of the journey. In case you could not find   and worried, please consider following essentials while you are planning trip. A pair of good and strong shoe to keep yourself moving throughout the

Disability: Reflection from graduating social work student

  Hello Readers, This article contains self reflected observation and personal changes I experienced after going through the model called  "FSP 405:Working with persons with disability" as a part of my bachelor degree in social work at Samtse College of Education. Reflection 1: is   it disability or the society that makes people disabled? The concept of disability is dynamic and it can be influenced heavily by the individual factors and societal factors. The question of whether disability is primarily caused by the individual’ condition or societal factor is a complex and heated debate for quite long time. Well, I stand with fact that some disabilities are result of innate physical or cognitive limitation, it is the societal response to these limitation that determines the extent to which individual are disabled. You and I as a part of society, it is our responsibility in constructing environments, systems and attitude that enables the live of all people. So, how can we s