READ MORE: New hangover pill to 'rapidly break down booze' goes on sale in the UK todayAnd since lockdown, Rachel has been using an electric wheelchair after being wrongly diagnosed for years as a child.
Her body formed benign lumps as she was treated with chemotherapy and radiotherapy when she was 18 months old. At the age of nine, she bumped her back on the frame of a garden swing which saw another growth form, reports M.E.N.
She was treated again for a year but when more lumps formed, her parents were warned the treatment might stunt her growth.When Rachel turned 12, doctors saw her big toe shorter than the rest and was able to diagnose her with FOP.
The condition causes the body's soft tissues to gradually turn to bone, a process which is accelerated through trauma to the body.While there was no treatment on the NHS, Rachel's mum reached out to a doctor in the US after watching a documentary on FOP.She sought information from Dr Frederick Kaplan and when he visited the UK in Bath, the mum travelled to see him with Rachel.Despite her diagnosis as a teen, Rachel didn't let it take over her life.Rachel, who married at 25 and divorced her partner in 2020, saw her condition worsen in her lates 20s.
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