An Indian woman has shrunk to just two feet ten years due to a rare congenital disease that has left her limbs ‘bendy’. Kunti Kumari, 25, is now the average height of a four-month-old baby, with weakened limbs that seem to stretch and bend. She spends her day lying on a cot, chatting with her mother and staring at the ceiling when she has no company.Kumari, who lives in a far-off village in Chatra in eastern state Jharkhand, has been bed-ridden for the past eight years.
She is extremely weak and depends on her widowed mother for every need.
Kunti Kumari being examined by a doctor
Her mother Tilakwa Devi, 60, who lost her husband 12 years ago, can’t stop weeping seeing her youngest daughter’s condition that she says makes her look like a ‘corpse’.
“She was a normal girl with healthy limbs but when she turned a teenager, her bones started weakening and she struggled to walk. She would limp a little but gradually she lost all strength and started shrinking,” said Devi.
“Within eight years of this mysterious disease, she completely lost strength and got bound to bed rest.”
Her limbs are extremely weak and appear to ‘bend’
Kunti, whose older siblings –two brothers and one sister – are unaffected, had undergone a surgery in 2007 for treating her left leg that was terribly weak.
But after a month of relief, her condition started deteriorating and she lost strength in all her limbs.
Kunti’s mother admits that her daughter’s condition is devastating
Kumari said: “I was always weak and could never run fast. I was a slow walker and as I grew up, I had to push my left leg.
“This is when my mother took me to a doctor for treatment. The bone specialist operated on my left leg but after a month, I couldn’t move the leg.”
The mum and daughter are now in hope of a miracle that could cure the condition and bring Kumari back on her feet.
They are also getting help from other villagers who are coming forward with money as well as fixing appointments with doctors in big cities.
The family are desperately hoping for help and are being given money by other villagers
Devi said: “We do not have money to get advanced medical treatment. Whatever little I had, I gave it for her first surgery but now I have no money.
“Even managing two meals a day is an uphill task for us.
“But now with the help of some villagers we are hoping to go to the city and meet some doctors. We are still short of money, so let us see what God has kept in store for us.”
The family are hoping their daughter can be cured of her congenital disease
Dr Satyendra Singh, Civil Surgeon, Chatra, who was informed about the girl’s condition by villagers, believes Kumari is suffering from a rare bone disease.
He said: “This looks like a severe case of Osteogenesis Imperfecta. It is a rare congenital disease where the bones starts weakening and due to low density, they start shrinking.
“It is not a completely curable disease but with medication, she can be given some relief.”
Watch Kumari in the video below: