Clarifying Ripley: Liu Hua’s Giant Hand

Every so often I see a local newspaper comic strip Ripley’s Believe It or Not? and wonder if I could stand just a few more details than were given. Just such an event occurred today when seeing the illustration of Liu Hua’s oversized hand that doctors operated upon to give Liu a more feasible life. Here is an article from the original report by Shanghai Daily I found that shows a real picture of the oversized hand, which also notes that Liu suffers from Macrodactyly, a birth defect. The seven-hour operation reduced the gigantic appendage by 5.1kg (11.24 lb.) in July and qualified by doctors there as the largest hand in the world. Shanghaiist.com also a few more details. Freaky!