A TEENAGER has seen his face for the first time, more than a decade after strangers paid for a life-changing op to remove his horrific facial tumours.
Mithun Chauhan, cruelly nicknamed “ghost boy”, developed the rare condition when he was just five years old.
The disorder, recently diagnosed as neurofibromatosis, caused huge tumours to engulf his nose, mouth and eyes.
Kids would run away from him in fear, and he was asked to leave his school.
But when the local media in Bihar, India, started a crowdfunding campaign to help the 16-year-old, they were inundated.
They raised 600,000 rupees, the equivalent of £7,000, to pay for a string of operations to remove the tumours.
Now Mithun can smile and eat properly for the first time.
And thanks to the ops, Mithun can see his own face for the first time in more than ten years.
His delighted mum Bachia Devi said: “I cannot believe this.
“This is the first time I am seeing my son’s face.
“Those giant tumours are gone. See, he has a nose now.”
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His family said they noticed the lumps spreading across his body after he was treated for a painful mole when he was five.
The swelling around his face grew so severe he struggled to eat, see and breathe.
He was admitted to a local primary school aged eight but on his first day, the children were cruel.
“They called me a ghost and started running for their life as if they had a seen a real one,” said Mithun.
His worried neighbours feared the schoolboy had been “cursed” by the gods, so they prayed every day and performed rituals to cure him.
It was not until he was taken to a doctor in recent years he was diagnosed with neurofibromatosis, a rare genetic disorder that causes tumours to grow along nerves.
Indian news agency Newslions heard about his plight and started a fundraising campaign to raise the cash before approaching the family with the money.
WHAT IS NEUROFIBROMATOSIS?
NEUROFIBROMATOSIS is the name for a number of genetic conditions that cause tumours to grow along the nerves.
The tumours that form are usually non-cancerous, or benign.
The condition affects around one in 3,000 births.
It is caused by a genetic mutation, which causes a permanent change to the DNA sequence that makes up a gene.
As a result, the growth of nerve tissue isn’t properly controlled.
There is currently no cure, though surgery can remove tumours.
Initially the family were sceptical – fearing he would be targeted by “organ smugglers” – but they agreed to allow their son to fly for tests.
Speaking of his first flight, the lad said: “I was a little scared when the plane took off and also at the time of landing.
“I really enjoyed the flight. I saw houses that looked like matchboxes.
“We were traveling though clouds.”
Medics discovered the tumours were non-cancerous and agreed to do the three-hour operation in February.
They family made a 24-hour 900-mile train journey to Life Care Hospital in Indore for the operations in February and March.
Dr Ashwini Dash, who first diagnosed his condition, said: “It was a complex operation.
“The boy had tumours all over his face.
“There was not a single inch of skin on his face that didn’t have tumor on it.
“Anyway, we managed to do the bulk of the work of removing the big tumors from his cheeks and nose.
“We also created his nose and chin during the operation. Overall it was a successful operation.”
After ten days in hospital, Mithun and his father Ramji Chauhan returned to his village where locals were surprised to see his transformation.
Proud dad Ramji said: “Mithun came here without a face and he has returned with one.
“Now nobody would call my son a ghost or poke fun at him for his looks.
“He can now face the world and lead a normal life.”
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