Off The Record
Woman Who Had Controversial Surgery To Grow 13 Inches As A Teen Reveals What She Looks Like Now, And You Better Sit Down
A woman from Maryland who had limb lengthening surgery has shared her appearance 15 years after the initial procedure.
According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, Chandler Crews was born with achondroplasia, a genetic disorder that inhibits bone formation in the growth plate’s cartilage.
The primary source of the problem, which is transmissible from parent to kid, is a spontaneous mutation that takes place in the developing embryo. Individuals who have the syndrome often reach adult heights of 42 to 56 inches.
Before undergoing contentious limb lengthening operation, the 31-year-old, who achieved her mature height of 3’10” at the age of 16, claimed that she was “physically struggling” to perform everyday duties like driving a car, shampooing her hair, and using public bathrooms.
According to the Daily Mail, she would also regularly have to go to hospital appointments to see experts about the repercussions of her condition, such as ear infections and bowed legs.
She had her first surgery with the Rubin Institute for Advanced Orthopedics after determining that lengthening her arms and legs would help her live the “life she wanted.”
Of the practice, which sees surgeons cutting a bone and using an external frame to slowly pull segments apart to stimulate bone growth, Crews said, “I didn’t want to wait for the world to change to fit my needs.”
“I wanted to take charge and change for myself and no one else.”
Crews underwent two further surgeries following her initial limb lengthening procedure in August 2010.
She also kept going to the Rubin Institute for Advanced Orthopedics to have her bowed legs fixed and to have her spine examined more thoroughly.
Crews spent about $2 million on her operations. However, she was able to get insurance to cover the majority of the cost because they were considered “necessary.”
She eventually reached an incredible height of 4’11-3/4″, according to an interview with Limblength.org.
Crews talked candidly about the effects of being 13 inches higher on her years after the practice.
“Being able to just walk up to someone and communicate with my face in the same range as their face has been the biggest game changer for me,” Crews confessed.
“My treatment at RIAO didn’t just change me physically, it changed everything for me,” she said at the time.
Crews said that she can now reach the top of her head to put her hair in a ponytail since her arms were elongated between 2011 and 2013, according to the Daily Mail.
She can also take care of her feminine hygiene without using a bidet and “sit a safer distance away from the steering wheel when driving.”
“At 4’11’ I’m still really short, but I’m what I call (for myself) a ‘comfortable short’,” she added.
She also founded The Chandler Project, an advocacy group, based on her lifelong experience with achondroplasia.
According to The Irish Star, the group was established to “assist and offer hope to other people” who are impacted by the illness and to help spread the word about new studies on medication and surgery to treat it.
“Children have died from complications of achondroplasia. Adults have died from having achondroplasia. No one ever wants to talk about it, but it’s true. Living with achondroplasia is a difficult life, but it’s the only one I have,” she explained.
“I’m working hard to make it my best life and show others they too can control the way they live with this condition.”
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