In the war on SARS seven years ago, Fang Bo was hailed a national hero. After winning his own battle against the deadly virus at a Beijing hospital, he was lauded by the media as a symbol of hope, and inundated with letters and flowers from the public.

Seven years on, the 58-year-old is all but a forgotten survivor, crippled by the very treatment that saved his life.

His hips are now lined with 30-cm scars from operations to replace his thigh bones after he developed osteonecrosis, a wasting condition and a side effect of the hormone therapy he received in 2003. The disorder also affects his shoulders and knees.