‘Elephant Legs’ Woman Finds Hope Outside of China
Wang Cheng, a 24 year-old Chinese girl often referred to as ‘Elephant Legs’, has a rare medical condition of elephantiasis, which has caused her legs to swell nearly three times their normal size.
Wang has suffered from the condition since the age of 6 and currently cannot even wear pants because of the pain it causes her 110 pound legs.
“I cannot go out to work. Nor can I wear trousers as normal people.” Wang said while sitting in her bed at Taipei Municipal Wan Fang Hospital waiting for an upcoming operation.
Living with a paralyzed father and an unemployed mother in China, Wang was given a blessing when she was offered an opportunity to receive free surgery that would cut away some of the lymphatic tissue in her legs.
Hsu Wen-hsien, a senior doctor who will lead the operation on Monday, indicated that he had never seen such a sever case in all his 30 years experience.
“In the past cases, none of the patients have had two legs swelling to this size,” said Hsu.
The operation is expected to reduce Wang’s leg size by about 35% initially, and up to 50% after about 2 months of rehabilitation.
Taiwanese Buddhist group Fo Kuang Shan is paying for the travel expenses to Taiwan and non-medical expenses while the 10-hour operation and related care, estimated at $17,600, is being provided free by the hospital.
Elephantiasis, or lymphatic filariasis, is often transmitted by mosquitoes.
By Sun Tzu on 15-06-2008
Comment by darkwing duck
June 15th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
Filarial worms infect over 130 million people worldwide with an additional 1.1 billion believed to be at risk of infection, mostly in Africa and Asia. The parasites are transmitted by a mosquito bite and once inside the human body develop into adult worms in the lymphatic vessels, causing severe damage, pain and swelling. Elephantiasis – painful, disfiguring swelling of the legs and genital organs.
Comment by Delaney
June 15th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
aww! i hpe she is okay! i hope she does find hope!
Comment by danielle
June 15th, 2008 at 7:00 pm
let me tell you something…i am so sick of everyone making a big deal about people in other countries….we ought to think about people in our own country…..we help all these people from other countries….and what about ours!!!!!!!!!!! what about the people that are suffering in the USA!!!!!!!!!!!! we don’t think about that do we????? i am so disgusted by this nation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! lets start helping our own!!!!!!!!!! we have tons of people like this here and noone cares…..but if they are over seas then it is a big deal!!!!!!!! get a grip america..start helping our own!!!!!!!!!!!!
Comment by danielle is wrong
June 15th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
honestly danielle the people here in the usa have all the oportunity. people that are homeless by choice are worthless. able bodied people who could work but decide to suck off the tit of the givernment make me sick. americans are lazy bastards and i feel like maybe we should let down the borders, let the mexicans who want to work do so, and have the people that are just living wastoids deported!!!!
Comment by Vania
June 15th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
Danielle,
YOU ARE CLUELESS!
Comment by Lynn
June 15th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
First and foremost, Danielle..you’re retarded and I’m disgusted by your post! If you were the person sitting in the hospital, I’m sure you would be seeking help too. It’s not about who’s country we are helping…its the individual who is suffering, who doesn’t have the money to pay for her legs to get treated, and who wishes to just live a normal life.
And to Wang Cheng..I wish the best for you. It would be interesting to see the results after the operation. Till the next story…
Comment by Sun Tzu
June 15th, 2008 at 9:53 pm
Sorry.. You found the wrong site…
But you made me laugh.. so that cant be all bad right?
Comment by Jarrod
June 15th, 2008 at 10:13 pm
Danielle,
Why are you up in arms about this anyway. The medical was donated by the hospital and the trip to taiwan by a Taiwanese Buddhist group Fo Kuang Shan. So what are you even talking about the United States had nothing to do with this! Get a clue and read the article first.
Comment by KAIROL
June 15th, 2008 at 10:21 pm
THAT’S NOT FUNNY STUPID
Comment by grace
June 16th, 2008 at 4:46 am
shit, mosquitoes seem to like me. touch wood.
Comment by Me in PA
June 16th, 2008 at 5:02 am
Now now people…she has something right actually…theres something we really should worry about that she made blatantly obvious that needs worked on here in America. We need to teach our little ones to READ.
I mean seriously…go back in the story and point out how many times USA paid for anything in it at all.
Dont get me wrong…I agree that USA needs to worry more about their own instead of paying for foreign countries affairs and such…just got that on the wrong story cuse this one doesnt say nothing about such thing.
Comment by Daniel
June 16th, 2008 at 7:40 am
i heard of Filarial worms too…there was a similiar type of worm which can be pass in fresh water.the worm will live on a shell and pass through our skin tissue.
it will start to mutates and block our blood vessals causing our body to bloat and it is fatal too
Comment by satria
June 16th, 2008 at 7:54 am
what a poor girl, hope you will be okey
Comment by sultan_azteca
June 16th, 2008 at 10:58 am
Sun Tzu made the smartest shortest comment here. If you don’t want to know about people suffering abroad from the US, then why da hell log into AsiaNews??? Go to redneckbitches.com!
Now, I don’t think enslaving Mexicans as a labor class will help either. I don’t think gringos are lazy either, just their pay expectations are too high. The globalized world will teach them that getting paid good money for making crummy cars and living like kings from wildguessing in hedging funds positions is plainly not sustainable.
Comment by sultan_azteca
June 16th, 2008 at 11:02 am
Elephantiasis in genital organs can’t be that bad! =D
Seriously, good look with her treatment! Watch the movie “The Elephant Man”… good drama.
Comment by Creg
June 16th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
How many links a day you gonna spam on 1rstlink? 3 is plenty
Comment by Sun Tzu
June 16th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
huh.. who… ahhh.. your high huh..
Comment by ray
June 16th, 2008 at 8:10 pm
I believe this is called, “Weird Asia News” and not “Funny Asia News”. What is with the illiteracy?? And this definitely rates high on my weird-o-meter.
Comment by Non-American
June 17th, 2008 at 11:06 am
But USA isn’t my country.
Comment by me
June 19th, 2008 at 10:38 pm
who said anything about enslaving Mexicans all that person said was let the mexicans work. and yes gringos are lazy.
Comment by DaCrackaWhacka
June 23rd, 2008 at 6:46 am
CANKLES
Comment by Reaver
June 23rd, 2008 at 9:06 am
You do know where Taiwan is? It is Chinese helping Chinese. So you are racist and dumb.
Comment by formosan
July 2nd, 2008 at 9:41 pm
Hey watch out what you say about “Chinese”!
Comment by "danielle is wrong" is right
July 25th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
What’s wrong with helping people from other countries? Patriotism is nice and all, but don’t become a bigot.
Comment by Mikey Boy
August 4th, 2008 at 11:18 am
She ain’t no size zero – perhaps she might want to go out some evening!
Comment by Carlene
August 18th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
I pray that the operation will be a successful one and i hope that she will be able to walk again .she is too young to be living in an isolation my prayer goes out to you my dear. I pray that the LORD will remove the doctors hand and place HIS in the name of JESUS CHRIST
Comment by val
September 11th, 2008 at 11:08 am
what tons of people? where?
Comment by Deepak kumar Singh
September 16th, 2008 at 11:54 am
God Bless Everyone!