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The young man once known as the "folding boy" celebrated his 21st birthday in hospital sitting upright for the first time in his life after four gruelling operations to straighten his body.
The milestone took place at Chengdu BOE Hospital, in Sichuan Province, China, on 5th August.
Jiang Yanchen was born healthy but developed a rare congenital muscular dystrophy that caused his spine to fold 180 degrees in reverse, leaving his head and hips just a fist's distance apart.
By the time he reached his teens, he could not sit like other children, spending most of his life in a “kneeling” position to eat, sleep, and study.
Despite his condition, he refused to give up, lying on a yoga mat to take his Gaokao university entrance exams and scoring 60 points above the second-tier entrance score.
His long journey to recovery began in 2024 when specialist spinal surgeon Dr Liang Yijian and his team decided to take on his case.
Over 10 months, they performed four staged operations to gradually realign his spine.
The first, a reverse osteotomy in December 2024, involved cutting through the thoracolumbar segment of his back using a 3D-printed surgical guide.
This procedure allowed his torso to open to 120 degrees for the first time.
In February 2025, surgeons carried out an innovative cervical spine correction to gain a further 40-degree correction.
In April, an arthroscopy was performed to realign his hip joints.
The final procedure, in June, was a 12-hour thoracolumbar reconstruction, during which Dr Liang knelt to complete a critical step to ensure precision and left the table drenched in sweat.
The four surgeries in total corrected his posture by 170 degrees, restoring his spine to a near-erect position.
Doctors said each surgery carried the risk of paralysis or death because the spinal deformity compressed both nerves and internal organs.
Technical breakthroughs, such as improvements to the head-pelvic ring traction system and the design of a segmented positioning frame, helped overcome these dangers.
After the surgeries, determined Jiang spent six to eight hours a day in exoskeleton training and core exercises during his rehabilitation.
When he sat upright on 5th August surrounded by balloons, a birthday cake, and smiling faces, he said: "I can finally see the world like a normal person. From now on, I will live the life I want."
Jiang is now in the final stage of rehabilitation and plans to return to university for his junior year.
Dr Liang’s team continues to monitor and adjust his training programme.
His case follows an earlier breakthrough in 2023 when doctors at Peking University First Hospital performed a series of complex operations to straighten his back for the first time after he had been told there was no cure.
That earlier effort, led by Chief Orthopaedic Physician Dr Wang Yu, also involved months of planning, consultations with experts from eight departments, and multiple high-risk procedures.
Jiang's mother, Yu Meiying, said at the time: "I gave him life for the first time, and Dr Wang Yu has given him a second chance at life."
(Mike Leidig / newsX)
Byline Journalist: Mike Leidig
Byline Sub editor: Simona Kitanovska
Byline Spotter: Ivica Stojanovski
Byline Commisioning Editor: Mike Leidig
Byline Senior Writer: Mike Leidig
Byline Picture Editor: Zorica Stojkovik
Byline Copychecker: Emily Wu
Byline Illustrator: Angela Trajkovska
Byline News Editor: Simona Kitanovska
Geography: Chengdu
Subject: Health, Healthcare, Surgery/Operations, Humans, Real-life, Inspirational, Social media, Society
T4 Editor Story Rating: 7
T4 Editor Pic/Vid rating: 8
T4 Total rating: 7.5
