Man has extra bones growing in his body

By the time we reach middle school, one of the facts we learn in science class is that the average adult has 206 bones, give or take a few. Yet Danbury resident Dan Aziere has more than that in his body.

A lot more. He estimates he has about 50 extra bones.

"They are around every joint, and there are a lot around my rib cage," said Aziere, 41, who works as a senior claims adjuster for Geico in Danbury. Aziere suffers from multiple hereditary exostoses, a rare genetic disorder in which benign tumors grow from the growth plate or the surface of bones throughout the body.

Since the age of 5, he has undergone 19 surgeries to remove 42 bones. He has had extra bones in his leg, shoulder, ankles, knees, hips, arms, wrists, back, chest, and almost all his fingers. They've ranged in size from as small as a pencil eraser to as large as 4 inches long by 2 inches wide by 1 inch high.

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