Before loosing her ability to move, a woman who suffers from a rare condition that turns her muscles to bone is vowing to live life to her fullest. Ashley Kurpiel suffers from an incredibly rare condition called fibrodysplasia ossification progressive (FOP). The condition affects around 800 people worldwide. The 33 year old Ashley has already lost her arms because of he incurable and debilitating disease, which slowly turns muscles into solid bone. Ashley is not wasting any time, because the disease can leave sufferers completely immobilized.
Ashley said, ‘When I was about two-and-a-half doctors diagnosed me with cancer. They went in to remove what they thought was a tumour and told my parents that it spread and they my arm needed to be amputated. Five months later, doctors called and said cancer was a misdiagnosis and that I had a rare disease that affects one in two million people. I am growing a second skeleton in a sense, becoming a human statue physically.’
She continued , ‘Many others living with this lose all mobility, head to toe, and their jaws have locked shut. At 25 I lost mobility in my right leg and had to learn to live life and how to move around. I don’t know how much longer I will have movement in my body, so I want to experience as much as I can now.’
The condition arises from a mutation of the body’s repair mechanism. When dam*aged it causes muscles, tendons, and ligaments to convert to bone material. She first started experiencing symptoms as a teenager. She said, ‘I began to feel my body stiffen gradually. I had been told it was going to happen but once I started feeling the symptoms I wanted to experience everything life had to offer before it was too late.’