Connecticut Woman's Body is Growing a Second Skeleton

DANIELSON, CT — A Connecticut woman is battling a genetic disease so rare that she is just one of 285 confirmed cases recored in the U.S. and one of 800 cases worldwide, according to multiple reports including Fox 61.

Jasmin Floyd, 23, of Danielson suffers from fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva, FOP for short, a genetic disease that causes her muscles, tendons and other connective tissues to turn to bone forming a second skeleton. The International FOP association says that the disease is "one of the rarest, most disabling" genetic conditions known to medicine.

According to a report from the Hartford Courant, the condition is caused by a gene called ACVR1.

The disease forced Floyd to relearn basic tasks such as switching on the lights and turning on the faucet by the age of 7. Years later, Floyd reported waking up with a tight neck or an elbow locked in place, and slowly losing the ability to move them.

Floyd told the Courant that she is forced to avoid crunchy or chewy foods because her jaw tires easily. Additionally, Floyd deals with "flare-ups" triggered for no known reason that limit her mobility.

Unfortunately, any attempt to surgically remove the extra bone forming in her skin leads to "catastrophic explosions of new bone formation," according to her doctor Frederick Kaplan's comments to the Hartford Courant. .

He also added that most patients don't live beyond age 40 or 40 due to a restrictive chest wall disease which severely limits lung capacity causing the heart to fail.

However, Floyd keeps fighting. She likes to travel alone to reclaim some of her independence. She also writes about her day to day life with FOP on her blog One Spirit, Two Skeletons. She told the Hartford Courant that she still considers FOP to be a motivation.

Floyd started a gofundme page to help her fund mobility aids and accessible furniture. She also hopes to put some of the money toward her dream trips as well. You can click here to learn more about Jasmin's fundraiser.

Read more from the Hartford Courant and Fox61 here.

Image via Gofundme