A patient dubbed the ‘folding man’ can finally stand straight again after life-changing surgery to fix his hunched back.

Li Hua, of China’s Hunan Province, has reportedly lived with his face pressed against his thighs for two decades, according to local reports.

The 46-year-old was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) in 1991 at the age of 18, Chinese media claims.

After a series of high-risk operations this year, he has been able to stand completely straight for the first time in 28 years.

Doctors who treated Mr Hua – who struggled to eat or drink before his operation –hope he will able to walk without aid in the next three months.

Mr Hua’s condition worsened in the past five years. He measured only 90cm (2.9ft) in height because of his severely curved spine.

In May this year, Mr Hua’s family came across Professor Tao Huiren, head of spinal surgery and orthopaedics at Shenzhen University General Hospital.

Professor Huiren had treated other ‘folding’ patients with similar spinal conditions – but none whose case was so severe, reports said.

Li Hua, 46, was dubbed the ‘folding man’ (pictured) due to his condition, ankylosing spondylitis, which was diagnosed in 1991 at the age of 18

After a series of four operations this year, Mr Hua has been able to stand straight for the first time in 28 years. He is expected to walk without aid (a walker) in three months

The symptoms of AS usually develop slowly over several years. Mr Hua’s spine had become so bent over (pictured) he hadn’t stood completely straight for 28 years, local reports say

Mr Hua said: ‘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.’

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is believed to be caused by a fault gene. Inflammation in the spine makes the back, rib cage and neck stiff and painful.

The inflammation causes bone to wear away, and in response, the body produces extra calcium to grow more bone, sometimes in the wrong places.

This process leads to further bone formation and the individual bones of the spine may fuse together. In serious cases this can make the spine curve forward more.

This type of spinal curvature, which looks like a forward-hunching posture, is called kyphosis.

AS affects around 1.6million people in the US. Axial spondyloarthritis, an umbrella term which AS falls under, affects one in 200 adults in the UK.

Mr Hua’s family, from the city of Yongzhou in Central China’s Hunan Province, did not have the money to treat him all these years.

The once lean teenager was unable to sit up straight or lie down flat and was completely dependent on his elderly mother who became his full-time carer.

Mr Hua had previously been refused surgery on the grounds it was too life-threatening

Mr Hua is expected to walk without aid in three months since having his operation

Mr Hua stood straight as a teenager (pictured). He was completely dependant on his mother by the time he was able to get surgery

However, when he sought medical attention in his native province in 2018, he was refused surgery on the grounds that any operation would come with a very high risk to his life.

Professor Huiren, who works at at Shenzhen University General Hospital in South China’s Guangdong Province, accepted the challenge.

He said there was a critical threat to Mr Hua’s life if pressure on his heart and lungs was not alleviated. The first of many consultations began in June.

Medics described the severe spinal deformity as ‘three-on’: chin on chest, sternum on pubis, and face on femur.

Professor Huiren said: ‘A regular so-called penknife patient would still be able to lift their head, but he couldn’t.

‘There was only a five centimetre (2inch) gap between his chin and thighs.’

Mr Hua had surgery at Shenzhen University General Hospital

The hospital described Mr Hua’s case as the surgical equivalent of climbing Mount Everest

Mr Hua’s entire body was opened up, allowing him to lie flat (pictured)

Mr Hua, pictured recently, said: ‘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’

Mr Hua would need his spine broken in sections and then straightened out. Medics also broke and fixed his thigh bones, reports state.

Professor Huiren 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 surgical plan was made of four phases, but it is not clear how long this took.

Post-operative images released by the hospital show Mr Hua’s entire body having been opened up, allowing him to lie flat, sit up and even stand straight for the first time in almost three decades.

He is now able to move around with the help of a walker, but Professor Huiren said he will regain normal movement following just two to three months of physical therapy.

Professor Huiren said: ‘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.’

The hospital described Mr Hua’s case as the surgical equivalent of climbing Mount Everest. It was the first time such severe spinal deformities have been corrected in China.