A little boy from Manchester suffers a rare incurable disease that turns the body into stone over time, affecting one out of two million people all over the world.

Six-year-old Oliver Bedford-Gay was diagnosed of having fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP), more commonly known as the 'Stone Man syndrome' when he was 13 months old.

Like Us on Facebook

This extraordinary disease resulted from a mutation in the body's repair mechanism causing bones to form in the fibrous tissues of the body, such as muscles, tendons and ligaments whenever a tissue is damaged.

So far, no cure has been discovered for FOP and surgical removal of bone growth may lead to further bones sprouting in between the fibrous tissues as it attempts to "repair" itself.

The Stone Man syndrome is hereditary so that people carrying an autosomal dominant allele have 50 percent chance of having children with the same disease, although most cannot have children at all.

Thirty-seven-year-old proud father, Chris, cited how full of life his son is, unaware of what the future holds for him.

"The disease will randomly progress by itself so we just take one day at a time. But to look at him you wouldn't realize anything was wrong with him. He's got so much energy and loves life," he said.

Oliver was born healthy except for shorter big toes that were turned inwards, which suggested something was wrong. Thirteen months after he was born by a suction cup on to his head, a golf ball-sized lump appeared at the top of his head.

This was the cue for Oliver's doctors to refer him for more tests, where specialists at St. Mary's Hospital in Manchester later diagnosed him with the Stone Man syndrome. According to the specialists, the life expectancy for Oliver's condition is 40 years old.

"We were so shocked when we were told what was wrong with Oliver. We had no idea that it could be something so serious. We had thought it was just a lump from his birth on the top of his head. We had no idea it was something life limiting like this," his father said in an interview.

Now, Oliver is limited from playing contact sports since every injury he may acquire can cause more bone to grow.

TagsFOP, Stone Man Syndrome, Oliver Bedford-Gay