46-year-old Li Hua has a new lease on life. When he was 18-years-old he was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis, a rare type of disorder that leads to inflammation in the spine. Over the years the inflammation got worse which caused extra calcium to grow in the wrong places, reports the Daily Mail. This caused him to have a curved spine which put him into a forward hunching posture. Unfortunately, for Hua, his condition got worse which forced his face against his thighs.

Asia Wire

Hua was once a fit teenager before this disease robbed him of his life. The condition forced him to be completely dependent on his mother.

Asia Wire/Shenzen University

For the last 20 years, Hua has been living with his face pressed against his thighs but his condition got significantly worse. Before doctors were able to treat him, he struggled to eat or drink. Standing up, he only measured 2.9 feet.

Asia Wire

Doctors named him the “folding man” but struggled to help him. He didn’t have the money and most surgeons didn’t want to perform surgery due to the dangers. However, Mr. Hua’s family found Professor Tao Huiren who is the head of surgery and orthopedics at Shenzhen University General Hospital in China.

Dr. Huiren treated many spinal conditions but Hua’s was the most severe. Huiren said surgery was necessary because of the pressure on Hua’s lungs and heart. Hua’s condition was described as “three on”- chin on chest, face on femur, and chin on chest”

To fix Hua, Huiren had to break his spine in different sections and have it straightened out. Additionally, they broke and fixed his thigh bones. The surgery was 30 times more dangerous than normal spinal surgery and the chance of Hua becoming a paraplegic was high.

“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,” Huiren said.

Asia Wire

Fortunately, the surgery was a success and with a walker, Hua can now move around. Furthermore, in three months after physical therapy, Hua will regain his normal movement.

“Of course he won’t be able to do anything too extreme like boxing or playing tennis, but all regular bodily movements will not be a problem,” Huiren said.

Mr. Hua is finally able to stand up after nearly thirty years. He thanked Hurien for helping him.

“There would’ve been no cure for me without Dr. Tao,” Hua said. “He’s my savior and my gratitude to him is second only to my mother.”