A 21-year-old woman in China whose left leg was eaten away by a bone infection, has undergone surgery to extend it by a whopping nine inches.
Xu Juan had the infection as a child, but owing to poor medical facilities, was unable to stop her leg being eaten away by bacteria.
Xu Juan before the surgery
In the end, she lost 23cm of bone and leg, resulting in her dependence on crutches. But, reported the Mail Online, after her parents saved for the surgery, she finally had it fixed.
In total she had four surgeries, and to lengthen her leg, a metal cage was fitted to it and each day she had to turn a screw in order to stretch the leg.
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The doctor involved in the surgery said: "Her condition was very complicated. As she not only had a shorter leg, but her knee and hip joints were also underdeveloped and had to be replaced. So we made a treatment plan of two phases. The first phase was to extend her left leg and make the two legs evenly long.
Xu Juan after the surgery
"The second phase of surgery was replacing the left knee joint and left hip joint."
She has also had surgery to fit an artificial left knee and hip joint, and doctors say that after a few months of rehabilitation, she will be able to walk normally.