Mother's agony as 7ft son who was 罠にかける in his home by a rare illness which meant he never stopped growing dies at 24 of 大規模な heart attack

• Robert Smith 苦しむd from Proteus syndrome, said to have 影響する／感情d the Elephant Man, which 原因（となる）s the bones and 肌 to grow in an 異常な way
• The 24-year-old died at his home in Cambridgeshire, にもかかわらず his mother Rita's frantic 試みる／企てるs to save him he succumbed to a 大規模な heart attack
  
• He 重さを計るd 19 石／投石する, had size 16 feet and a 40-インチ inside 脚, 同様に as 苦しむing sight and 審理，公聴会 problems
• In his lifetime he underwent a staggering 74 操作／手術s
• Also 苦しむd hydrocephalus - build-up of fluid on the brain - and epilepsy
• His mother Rita, 66, his main carer, said: 'I can't believe he has gone... I'm 荒廃させるd. I don't know what I'll do without him'
  

By Lizzie Parry

Published: 10:14 BST, 16 July 2014 | Updated: 15:54 BST, 16 July 2014

A 7ft young man struck with a rare illness which meant he never stopped growing has died of a 大規模な heart attack にもかかわらず his mother's desperate 試みる／企てるs to save his life.

Robert Smith was a 囚人 in his home in the months before his death, bound the same 条件 thought to have afflicted Joseph Merrick, famously dubbed the Elephant Man in the late 19th century.

The 24-year-old was 診断するd with proteus syndrome, a rare illness which 原因（となる）s the 異常な growth of a person's bones, 肌 and 長，率いる.

Robert passed away at his home in Walsoken, 近づく Wisbech in Cambridgeshire にもかかわらず his mother Rita's frantic 試みる／企てるs to save her only son.

Robert Smith, 24, has died at his home in Cambridgeshire, having 苦しむd a 大規模な heart attack にもかかわらず his mother Rita's desperate 試みる／企てるs to save his life

Robert 反抗するd the 医療の 半端物s stacked against him. His mother was 警告するd he would not live beyond a month when he was born four weeks 早期に.

Mrs Smith, 66, said: 'I can’t believe he has gone. Robert 苦しむd a cardiac 逮捕（する） and he just couldn’t breathe.

'I was on my own with him at the time - and I’m absolu tely 荒廃させるd. I don’t know what I’ll do without him.'

Robert, grew to 重さを計る 19 石／投石する, had size 16 feet and a 40-インチ inside 脚.

Standing at more than 7ft, he was one of the tallest men in the UK.

He 苦しむd sight and 審理，公聴会 problems, and underwent a staggering 74 操作／手術s in his life time.

The 24-year-old also 苦しむd gigantism, which meant he never stopped growing and also 苦しむd hydrocephalus - a build-up of fluid on the brain - and epilepsy.

Three years ago he 苦しむd meningitis, which left him unconscious for seven weeks and unable to walk.

In the three years since the illness struck, Robert had only 投機・賭けるd out of his home four times, at 19 石／投石する he was too 激しい for his mother to 押し進める in his 車椅子.

'Robert had not been able to walk since 苦しむing from meningitis three years ago, when he was unconscious for seven weeks,' said Mrs Smith.

Robert, pictured at nine years old, 苦しむd from proteus syndrome, which meant his bones never stopped growing. In the last months of his life he became a 囚人 in his own home, having outgrown his 車椅子

Robert with one of his favourite toys when he was five. In his lifetime he underwent a staggering 74 操作／手術s. He was also 診断するd with gigantism, which means at 7ft he never stopped growing, along with hydrocephalus (a build-up of fluid on the brain) and epilepsy

Last November friends and family 開始する，打ち上げるd a （選挙などの）運動をする to buy Robert a motorised 車椅子.

Within weeks more than £10,000 was 寄付するd by people from across the country, touched by the 24-year-old's 苦境.

Mrs Smith, her son’s main carer, said at the time: 'I am so 感謝する to the organisers of Robert Smith Fundraising.

'It has 回復するd my 約束 in people.'

During the course of his 操作／手術s, Robert had a titanium plate fitted in his 長，率いる to make room for three shunts to drain the fluid 蓄積するing on his brain.

He was born a month 未熟に at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King's Lynn, Norfolk. It was すぐに （疑いを）晴らす the newborn was 本気で ill.

'Robert was born by Caesarean section and doctors said he would only live for a month,' said Mrs Smith.

He was 存在 扱う／治療するd at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, for hydrocephalus when he started fitting.

Robert's mother Rita, 66, his main carer, said: 'I can?t believe he has gone. I was on my own with him at the time - and I?m 絶対 荒廃させるd. I don?t know what I?ll do without him'

By the age of two the toddler had eight shunts draining fluid from his brain.

He had a titanium plate 挿入するd into his 長，率いる and was 診断するd with proteus syndrome at 16 years old.

At the time of his death Robert had been looking 今後 to his first trip out in his new motorised 車椅子, with his sister Marie Louise.

His mother, who 苦しむs osteoporosis, arthritis, high cholesterol and a high 血 圧力, said: 'Robert couldn’t wait to go to our 地元の Asda 蓄える／店 in Wisbech to buy DVDs and CDs and chocolate caramel 甘いs.

'It’s been 堅い but I wouldn’t change Robert for the world as he was such a gentle 巨大（な） and very l oving.'

The 献身的な mother-of-two turned her living room into a bedroom for her son, and slept in the same room catching what sleep she could in a recliner 議長，司会を務める.

Her only 簡潔な／要約する 一時的休止，執行延期 （機の）カム when a carer sat with her son for three hours each week.

Proteus syndrome, thought to 影響する／感情 120 people 世界的な, results in bone overgrowth. This overgrowth is usually asymmetrical, so corresponding 団体／死体 parts are not 影響する／感情d in the same way.

Robert, for example, had 21 more bones in his 手渡す than he should - and, as a result, 苦しむd a 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定 of 苦痛.

Proteous syndrome results in bone overgrowth. Robert, for example, had 21 more bones in his 手渡す than he should - and, as a result, 苦しむd a 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定 of 苦痛