Meet the woman who doctors believe has the ‘world’s biggest hands’ – weighing almost one and a half stone each.
For more than 50 years, shop owner Duangjay Samaksamam, from Surin Province, Thailand, has suffered from an extremely rare and painful affliction that leaves her limbs permanently swollen.
Moving can be very painful and even the simplest tasks, such as washing and combing her hair, are extremely difficult for the single 59-year-old.
Embarrassed by her condition, Duangjay spent the first 20 years of her life as a recluse, ashamed of the way she looked, so she never went to school.
But she was forced to come out of hiding to earn a living in order to care for her elderly parents and take over running the family grocery shop.
She has caught the attention of medics all over the world, with many attempting surgery to decrease the swelling, but, to date, none have succeeded.
Duangjay said: “My hands are so heavy I can barely lift them to comb or shampoo my hair, it’s very difficult. Getting dressed is also very difficult and painful.
“Some doctors said the only solution was to cut off my hands if I wished to walk around freely. But I don’t want to do that.”
Duangjay was born with a condition called Macrodystrophia Lipomastosa, that causes vast amounts of fat deposits to be distributed across her arms and hands.
At age 25, she underwent a series of operations to try and solve the problem.
But rather than improving the situation, the surgery made the condition worse.
Having undergone three operations, Duangjay was still in a crippling condition.
Plastic surgeon Dr Eiju Uchinuma said: “This case is very rare. Both her arms are enlarged. Her arms and hands are enormous so they swell badly, but it could be worse.
“My diagnosis is that she is the first and only person in the world who has Macrodystrophia Lipomatosa from shoulders to her fingers on both arms.
“The cause of the disease is unknown and is therefore incurable.”
Duangjay’s story appears in a new series of Body Bizarre, set to air on TLC at 9pm on September 25.
