Yang Huimin, a 28-year-old man from Central China’s Henan Province, had what he thought was a pimple on face when he was 4. But during the next 24 years, the small swelling grew bigger and bigger, eventually covering the entire left side of his face.
A 19-hour operation on Yang’s abnormal skull ended successfully at the Beijing-based No 304 Hospital of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.
Yang was in stable condition, Li said, and his intelligence will not be affected, but he was unable to talk and eat yesterday because of an incision into his trachea. The doctors stated that he should recover both his voice and his appetite soon.
Although Yang’s head still looks a little different from normal ones, his skull was repaired to normal after a proliferation weighing 1 kilogramme was removed.
This is only the first step to help the young man with a face similar to a lion, hospital sources said. Yang will undergo a procedure to bring his face to a uniform colour. Previously the abnormality on face was red.
The second operation will be scheduled as Yang’s physical condition warrants, the hospital sources said.
Three groups of physicians and nurses in cranial nerve and plastic surgery participated.
Besides the bone, fat weighing nearly 2 kilograms was also cut from Yang’s head.
The nearly 200,000 yuan (US$25,000) required for the operations has been raised from donations, hospital sources said.
We thank God for the success so far and sincerely pray for his complete recovery.