A 46-year-old man called the ‘Folding Man’ is finally able to stand straight after being folded for 28 years due to an aggressive form of arthritis.

For more than two decades, Li Hua’s face was pressed against his thighs.

Medics at Shenzhen University General Hospital in South China managed to break and rebuild the patient’s entire spine in a series of four surgeries.

Li Hua was only 18 years old when he was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis in 1991. His family didn’t have enough money to send him to hospital, so Li depended on his mother who became his carer.

Photos of Li show his upper body folded onto his thighs. Doctors described the condition as ‘three-on’: face on femur, sternum on pubis, and chin on chest.

He couldn’t lie down flat or sit up straight, and his condition worsened that he struggled to drink and eat.

When he sought medical attention in 2018, Li was refused surgery as the procedure would come with a high risk to his life.

But this year, his family met Professor Tao Huiren of Shenzhen University Hospital.

Professor Tao had already treated patients with similar conditions but Li’s case was so severe, according to reports.

Even so, the doctor accepted the challenge, mentioning a high threat to Li’s life is pressure on his lungs and heart wasn’t alleviated.

“A regular so-called penknife patient would still be able to lift their head, but he couldn’t. There was only a 5-centimetre (2-inch) gap between his chin and thighs,” the doctor said.

“Our only option was to break his bones one section at a time – femur, cervical vertebrae, thoracic vertebrae, lumbar vertebrae – and then straighten his entire spinal column.

“The risks involved were 20 to 30 times that of a regular spinal surgery patient, and the chances of him becoming a paraplegic were also very high.”

The four-phase surgery allowed Li to lift his head, sit up, and lie flat. He can now move around with a walker but the doctor said he will regain normal movement after a few months of physical therapy.

“There would’ve been no cure for me without Doctor Tao. He’s my saviour, and my gratitude to him is second only to my mother,” Li expressed.

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