Akansha Mishra, 23, has had close to 1,000 fractures all over her body — a sneeze or just the touch of her mother's bangles was enough to break her bones. The 23-year-old suffers from osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) or brittle bones, a congenital disorder affecting one person in a lakh population.

A surgery has now given her hope of a stronger future. Akansha, a resident of Padrona, a small village in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, was operated at Criticare and Breach Candy hospitals a month ago. She was in the city last week for a follow up.

"Now, after 21 years, I can sit upright," she said. "I am hoping that after another surgery I will be able to stand and eventually walk," Akansha, who is preparing for her graduation's final-year exams and for civil services exams, said.

Akansha was diagnosed with the disorder when she was 2. The ailment, caused by the deficiency of collagen 1, bent her body as she grew. She lost her ability to sit straight. Her legs gradually flattened like a plate. Her hands took the shape of a bow, making her completely dependent on external support for her daily chores.

But, the worst affected was her spine that developed in a haphazard manner, curving it like an S instead of giving it the shape of a straight line. The development of her blood vessels and tissues were also affected. Before the reconstructive surgery, she used to sit in a frog-legged posture.

"Her legs were doubly bent and correction was required in multiple locations on her body," consultant orthopaedic surgeon Dr BS Rajput, who operated on her, said. "We reconstructed both her legs using several chips and pieces of a bone imported from the US." Akansha got the disorder due to a gene mutation after birth, he said.

Sant Kumar Mishra, a retired government employee, and Kusum Mishra said they had given up hope of seeing their child lead a normal life. "We returned dejected from the AIIMS in New Delhi after they said any surgery could be life-threatening," Akansha said.

"X-rays showed that her entire body structure was bent from the inside," Dr Rajput said. "We could not insert the tube for anaesthesia into her because of the crisscross body structure. We had to use the age-old way of putting an anaesthesia mask on her for the surgery," he said.

The Mishras said the surgery cost them Rs3 lakh. (Sumitra Deb Roy/ DNA-Daily News & Analysis Source: 3D Syndication)