THE CHINESE KID WITH AN UNUSUALLY LONG NECK

Fu Wengui is a 15-year-old boy from Beijing, China, who would have been just like every other teenager had it not been for the ten vertebrae in his neck; ideally, a person should have seven. The three extra vertebrae in Wengui’s neck have led to him having an unusually long neck, causing him great pain and difficulty in movement, which is caused due to the extra vertebrae compress his nerves. Wengui’s father, Fu Genyou, claims that the pain leads his son to always ’cause a stir when he is out’. Wengui was also diagnosed with congenital scoliosis and an abnormal chest frame at the age of six. Congenital scoliosis is a deformity that arises out of abnormally formed vertebrae very early during development, usually occurring within the first six weeks of pregnancy, leading to a sideways curvature of the spine. Children born with this condition usually have one or more improperly formed or underdeveloped systems (auditory, nervous, etc.). Wengui is now all set to undergo surgery to reduce the size of his neck, sponsored by a Beijing-based charity, and under the supervision of doctors at Chaoyang Hospital, who are now charting the plan for his treatment. Wengui said that he hopes he ‘can have a normal neck’.