A 5-year-old girl in the UK has been diagnosed with a rare condition that causes the right side of her body to grow much faster than the left.
Lilli-Mai Queen suffers from Beckwith Wiedemann syndrome (BWS), a condition typically characterized by various parts of the body growing at different rates.
At just 11 months old, Lilli-Mai was diagnosed with the extremely rare growth condition after her parents noticed that the right-hand side of her body was already longer than the left.
"I’d never heard of BWS and I didn’t know when the growing would stop,” Lilli-Mae’s mother, Becki Perry, 24, said. “It wasn’t obvious at all when she was newborn, but as Lilli-Mai got older her baby clothes never seemed to fit on one side.”
Lilli-Mae’s right leg is now 3 cm longer than her left and the right side of her tongue is noticeably larger, making it difficult for her to speak properly at times.
In fact, because of the growth condition, Lilli-Mae is already taller than her brother, even though he’s actually 13 months older than her.
"I’d put her shoes on and only one shoe would fit her. Her right hand and arm are slightly fatter too,” Perry said. “Having a bigger tongue on one side is one of the main symptoms. She could have had a tongue reduction but hers wasn’t too severe.”
Lilli-Mae must have special shoes made for her feet, since she often trips and stumbled whenever she’s not wearing them.
“She doesn’t understand what’s wrong with her, but she knows it messes with her co-ordination and she can tell the size difference when she is putting her shoes on and one doesn’t quite fit,” Perry said. “It makes her upset sometimes. She leans on her left side because the leg is shorter and gets a lot of pain in her back and legs.”
Despite the struggles Lilli-Mai must deal with now, doctors say she will likely grow out of the condition when she’s a little older.
