Mark Davidson Jacildo, from the Philippines, lives with macrodactyly, an ultra-rare congenital condition that causes abnormal growth of the fingers and surrounding tissues, including bone, soft tissue, nerves and blood vessels. His left hand weighs almost 7kg and his right around 2kg.
Mark appeared live from the Philippines on Tuesday's This Morning via video call, speaking to hosts Josie Gibson and Rylan Clark about his life with the condition. During the interview, Josie asked Mark whether he had worried that his daughter could inherit macrodactyly. "You're a family man, got a lovely girl and you've got a lovely daughter," she said. "Were you worried at home that you might pass the condition onto your daughter?"
Fear during pregnancy
Mark admitted he had been extremely anxious throughout his partner's pregnancy. "I was very worried since the beginning of my partner's pregnancy because although the doctor said that it can't be passed on, I wasn't really sure about it," he said.
Mark explained that he had been only a child himself when he first learned about his condition, meaning the prospect of having a child of his own brought back some of those fears. "When my partner was giving birth I was praying a lot and, yeah, thankfully, you know, it wasn't passed on to my daughter," he said.
Childhood decision
Mark also spoke about the difficult decision he faced as a seven-year-old, when doctors offered to operate on his hands to reduce their size and weight. But his family was warned there was a possibility that the surgery could ultimately result in him losing his hands.
Mark said his father gave him the choice, but he decided against undergoing the procedure. At the time, Mark felt he had little reason to take such a huge risk. "By seven I was already top of my class at school," he said. "I can play basketball. I can, you know, keep up with other kids. So, you know, at that time, I wasn't really looking at doing anything with my hands."
Adapting to life
Instead, Mark learned to adapt to life with his condition. "I've learned to adapt to it, you know, I learned to keep up," he said. Despite the extraordinary size of his hands and the challenges they present, Mark has continued to live his life, learning ways to manage everyday tasks and refusing to allow his condition to define him.
His appearance on This Morning has also given him an opportunity to raise awareness of macrodactyly and offer an insight into what it is like to live with an exceptionally rare condition. This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV1 and ITVX.
