Meet a teenage girl whose body is gradually turning into stone

Ni Min is suffering from a rare condition that turns
her muscles to solid bone – fibrodysplasia ossificans
progressiva (FOP). The genetic mutation is also
known as Stone Man Syndrome and, unfortunately,
there is still no cure for it. Although there are less
than six hundred cases of it across the globe, those
suffering from it eventually die.


Ni Min began showing Stone Man syndrome
symptoms at the age of eight.
The 14-year-old girl began showing symptoms at the
age of eight, after several examinations tests showed
she was suffering from the genetic mutation. Despite
the depressing prognosis doctors and Ni's family
hope to delay the symptoms with medication, in a bid
to prolong her life and slow down the effect of the
rare disease.
Unfortunately, patients usually die in their 40s when
they can no longer breathe.
Dr Zhang Keqin, who is leading Ni's treatment, said:
"At present her condition is not very serious and we
have prescribed medicine for her. We will see how
that goes over the next 6 months. Patients usually die
in their 40s when they can no longer breathe because
of the pressure on their lungs."
The extra bone progressively restricts movement,
forming a second skeleton that imprisons the body in
bone.
The disease causes bone to form in muscles, tendons,
ligaments and other connective tissues. Over time,
this extra bone restricts movement, forming a second
skeleton that imprisons the body in bone. It results in
a gruesome death when the cartilage holding the ribs
together also solidifies, making it impossible to
breathe and eventually the patient suffocates or
suffers massive cardiac arrest.


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