A man with a huge tumor on his jaw finally got life-changing surgery, after it got so big he almost couldn’t eat or speak.
Alex first noticed a swelling on his jaw as a teenager. It turned out to be a non-cancerous tumor, but it kept getting larger and larger.
By the time Alex was 23, the benign mass had grown to the size of a tennis ball and began to affect his ability to speak, eat, and swallow.
He was warned that it may eventually make it impossible to breathe, but none of the local hospitals around Freetown, Sierra Leone, were able to help—nor did any medications or herbal treatments.
He suffered with infections and tooth loss and, perhaps worst of all, from social isolation as most people shunned him and he was unable to make friends.
“I found it difficult to sit among people because they would laugh at me. I used to run away from them and sit alone in my room.”
Two years ago, he was told that global health charity ‘Mercy Ships’ would be docking one of their hospital ships in Freetown—and it became his last hope.
Once the Christian charity assessed his situation, they agreed to help and Alex had his first surgery aboard the ‘Global Mercy’ which removed his jaw in October 2023. The second surgery was in April 2024 to reconstruct the jaw using a bone from his head.
The surgery changed Alex’s life—and he has since made new friends and got his confidence back.
“After the surgery, I was very happy, especially when people were around me and when they were hugging me.”
“People were afraid to be close to me, but now, everybody wants to be my friend.”
Mercy Ships / SWNS
One of his doctors was Manjit Dhillon, a consultant surgeon in oral and maxillofacial surgery at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary in Scotland.
“In the UK, we see benign jaw tumors like Alex’s, but they are most likely picked up very early during a routine dental scan,” explained Dr. Dhillon.
“The patient would have the tumor removed at an early stage and so it would never grow to the size we see in Alex’s case.”
His mother, Zainab, greeted him when he emerged from the ship.
“I shed tears of joy when I first saw him after his surgery. He had been so isolated and shunned from society.
“The place was crowded with people who were surprised and happy for him. It was incredible to watch Alex come alive and be part of his community again. ”
Dr. Manjit said it was “amazing“ to be part of his journey and “to see him embracing a future of hope”.
