GRAPHIC: Man With Giant Facial Tumour Undergoes Life-Saving Surgery

A man has had an astonishing facial tumour almost the size of his own HEAD removed - and he is almost unrecognisable. Kenyan-born Mike Koech wasn't concerned when the tumour began as a small growth.

But the 35-year-old grew more and more horrified as it continued to grow until it had consumed one side of his face, becoming so large that his nose and mouth were pushed to one side and he lost his left eye.

To get rid of the growth which would have eventually been fatal, Mr Koech has undergone a series of operations to remove it performed by Spanish surgeon Pedro Cavadas.

The 51-year-old medic has told how if he had not operated on the giant ameloblastoma tumor from the base of Mr Keoch's skull, it would have continued to grow and his patient would have "died miserably."

Surgeons in Kenya and India had abandoned attempts to operate, intimated by the sheer size of the growth.

Now - after a series of four operations in 2011, 2013 and 2015 and October this year - Keoch is completely transformed.

Dr Cavadas' team had to remove what remained of his left eye and part of his jaw, which is where the tumour had been regenerating itself.