I must admit that stuff like this :: giant tumors that are allowed to grow unchecked, just boggle my mind. Yes, I feel incredibly sorry for an individual who has a facial tumor the size of a basketball, but WTF? Why are they waiting until they can no longer breathe to get medical attention? This ma is only now seeking medical help… after 35 years of tumor growth! The man is 50 years old or so and the giant facial tumor started as a birthmark that grew after puberty.

here’s the story from Discovery

For the past 35 years, 51 year-old Jose Mestre, from Lisbon, has been losing his face to a massive growth, distorting it out of all recognition – The giant tumor facial deformation is still growing.

The tumour on Jose’s face is a vascular malformation, a collection of blood vessels that have expanded, producing a raised red area on the skin. Jose was born with a strawberry-coloured birth mark on his upper lip; at puberty his face started growing, eventually smothering his lips, nose and one of his eyes. It’s now about 33cm long and weighs around 3kg.

Surrounded by a loving family, it seems incredible that he has not been treated and his face was allowed to grow so big. However, through years of medical misinformation, some misdiagnosis, lack of finances, and reluctance to undergo treatment due to religious beliefs, the growth has continued to obliterate his face.

The doctors could have operated to remove the growths but the patient is a Jehovah’s Witness so could not accept blood from another.