A man with the most common English name, Robert Smith, has a very unusual and, frankly, unhappy fate.
A 24-year-old resident of a village in Cambridgeshire has become a prisoner of his own home, because his skeleton does not stop growing and at the moment Robert does not fit into his large wheelchair, which is the number one problem.
The Englishman's disease is called Proteus syndrome. This is a very rare congenital disorder in which there is an excessive and ugly growth of not only bone tissue, but also skin. It is believed that the famous "elephant man" Joseph Merrick, who lived in Victorian England in the late 19th century and was a walking sensation for both doctors and frightened laymen, suffered from such a disease.
Mr. Smith weighs 120 kilograms, has a 50th shoe size, is 2 meters 40 cm tall, the giant man has hearing and vision problems, and has 74 surgical operations in his medical history. Plus epilepsy and hydrocephalus. Three years ago, Robert suffered from meningitis, lay unconscious for seven weeks and has since been unable to walk.
Relatives and friends are now trying to raise £ 8,000 in order to buy Smith an individually designed stroller with a motor for his titanic dimensions. The patient is mainly looked after by his 66-year-old mother named Rita. Over the past three years, the patient has been on the street only 4 times.
Robert was born in Norfolk a month ahead of schedule. The mother had a caesarean section and was told that the unusual baby had no more than a month to live. The forecast was not confirmed. By the age of two, the boy had eight shunts in his head to drain excess fluid, by the age of 10, Smith already had a titanium plate in his head, and the doctors diagnosed Proteus syndrome at the age of 16.
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It is believed that only 120 earthlings suffer from the "elephant man" disease in the world. The bones of such people grow asymmetrically, so the disease necessarily disfigures the body and leads to complete disability. Robert Smith, for example, has 21 more bones in his hand than needed. Because of what the hand constantly and strongly hurts. The elbows and knees are also hypertrophied, and the skin is so thin that it can be torn with a simple pinch.
The story of the unfortunate giant living near Cambridge has become the property of the British media, and now there is hope that people will raise money for a disabled person for a new chair with an electric motor. Because otherwise there won't be enough money to take care of Smith.