A woman with a rare condition suffered by only two million people worldwide has told of her daily struggle to carry out routine activities most people take for granted. Rachel Winnard has fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP), which causes the body’s soft tissues to gradually turn to bone.
The 37-year-old, from Rochdale in Greater Manchester, o has seen her condition worsen over the years. She now uses an electric wheelchair, can no longer leave the house without her commode or nappies as she needs support to go to the toilet, the Manchester Evening News reports.
Rachel was wrongly diagnosed in her early years when her body formed benign lumps initially thought to be fibromatosis. She was treated with chemotherapy and radiotherapy aged 18 months. Another lump formed when she bumped her back on a garden swing aged nine, and she received a a year of further treatment. But when more lumps formed on her chest, the treatment stopped as medics warned it might stunt her growth.
