A 21-year-old man suffers from localised gigantism,
which has meant his right foot has never stopped growing, Qu County in
Sichuan province, China.
Liu
Huichang’s right foot currently measures 43cm long and is 14cm thick.
When he was young, his parents refused doctors’ suggestions of
amputating his leg and desperately tried to stop his foot growing by
tightly binding the limb. But nothing has helped. As Liu’s right foot is
double the size of his left one, he has struggled to walk properly for
many years.
He
also suffers from flatfoot and joint problems amongst many other
medical issues. Liu has already undergone the first of three
surgeries which he believes will help him lead a normal life. He said: “I
have worn off about 20 shoes in the last 16 years. Eventually my
teacher helped and I finally landed on a job in a packaging factory. If
my foot gets better, I will definitely go and play basketball and wear
some shoes from the high streets.”
Liu
decided to have the operations not only for himself but for his
grandmotherwho has been making him gigantic shoes since he was five
years old. The 70-year-old uses canvases and needles to stitch the shoes
after a laborious day working on a farm, and has continued to help her
grandson even after her eyesight deteriorates.
Now
the young man works in a packaging factory and is hoping to achieve his
dream of playing basketball by undergoing a life-changing operation.
His doctors, however, say that even if the three operations are a
success, Liu’s two feet may not be the same size but they hope his right
foot will be reduced to a normal size over time.
Liu Huizhang’s foot has swelled to a huge UK shoe size 29 because of a condition known as gigantism
The 21-year-old is pictured before the first of three operations that he hopes will sucessfully reduce its size
Liu hopes that after the operation his right foot will be a normal size – but it might not match his left foot
Local gigantism is a rare condition, says Chinese doctors, and amputation of the limb is recommended
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