24 year old Wang Cheng from Zhiangsu in China has suffered from the terrible affliction of elephantiasis since she was just six years old.
She is unable to work, or even wear trousers due to the horribly painful condition. She has suffered for most of her life and has not left her home since she graduated from high school. Her father is paralysed due to a stroke and her mother is unemployed.
Her suffering may be about to end though as a Taiwanese specialist has agreed to treat Wang for free. Dr Hsu Wen-hsien has agreed to operate on the poor girl to remove lymphatic tissue in her legs and alleviate the pain caused by the swelling.
“I’ve never seen such an extreme case in more than 30 years’ experience” said Dr Wen-hsien.
“In the past cases, none of the patients have had two legs swelling to this size,” he continued.
Wang was taken from China to Taiwan to meet Dr Wen-hsien by Taiwanese Buddhist group Fo Kuang Shan. Chinese doctors had been unable to help Wang and she had been passed from one Chinese hospital to the next without any progress.
Dr Wen-hsien has performed almost 50 similar operations, 37 fully successfully. He is confident he can reduce the swelling in Wang’s legs by up to 50%.
The doctor believes that the condition is being caused by an obstruction in the veins which led to blood flowing to the lymphatic vessels and culminating with the swelling.
Fo Kuang Shan are kindly paying for all of Wang’s non-medical costs, and the expensive surgery is being performed free by the hospital.
