Huang Chuncai is seen on the operating table before his second operation to remove his tumours, which currently weigh around 10kg (22lbs), at a hospital in Guangzhou, southern China's Guangdong province January 7, 2008. Huang, a 32-year-old native from a remote village in China's southern province of Hunan, says he is relieved after a part of his facial tumours, which originally weighed about 23kg (50.7 lbs), was removed last year. His second operation will remove another part of the tumours, which weighs 4.5kg (9.9lbs). Huang suffers from neurofibromatosis, which is a genetic disorder of the nervous system that primarily affects the development and growth of nerve tissues. REUTERS/Joe Tan (CHINA)
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MOD-DATE: 01/07/08 08:38:33
ASIA-JAN07-CHINA-TUMOUR SURGERY
ASIA: STORY SG282
TUMOUR SURGERY GUANGZHOU, GUANGDONG PROVINCE, CHINA JANUARY 7, 2008
NATURAL WITH MANDARIN SPEECH DURATION:02:14
SOURCE:REUTERS FEED HISTORY:+NEW ASIA (0715GMT)
INTRO: China's "elephant man" undergoes second surgery to remove a massive tumour from his face.
TV AND WEB RESTRICTIONS~**NONE**~
A severely deformed man in southern China has undergone a second round of surgery, in an attempt to remove a large tumour from his face. SHOWS: (ASIA) GUANGZHOU, GUANGDONG PROVINCE, CHINA (JANUARY 7, 2008)
(REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)
1. HOSPITAL OFFICIAL SHAKING HANDS WITH "ELEPHANT MAN" HUANG CHUNCAI
2. FAMILY STANDING OUTSIDE
3. (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin), HUANG CHUNCAI, TUMOUR PATIENT "ELEPHANT MAN", SAYING: "After my tumours are gone, I hope that I can go travel around Guangzhou and have fun."
4. NURSE TAKING HUANG TO A STRETCHER
5. NURSES TAKING HUANG OUT OF ROOM
6. NURSES WALKING ON CORRIDOR
7. HUANG LYING IN OPERATION ROOM
8. FACE OF HUANG
9. DOCTOR CHECKING HUANG'S MOUTH
10. DOCTORS INJECTING PIPES INTO HUANG'S MOUTH
11. DOCTORS DOING PRE-SURGERY PREPARATION
12. NURSE PUTTING A PIPE INTO HUANG'S EAR
13. DOCTORS DISCUSSING OPERATION
14. DOCTORS CLEANING TUMOUR
15. DOCTORS WORKING IN OPERATION ROOM
16. DOCTORS INJECTING NEEDLES INTO HUANG'S TUMOUR
17. DOCTORS CONDUCTING SURGERY
18. DOCTORS WORKING IN OPERATION ROOM
19. DOCTORS DOING SURGERY
20. HUANG'S BROTHER LOOKING AT OPERATION ROOM THROUGH GLASS WINDOW
21. HUANG LYING IN BED AFTER OPERATION
22. HUANG BEING TAKEN TO SPECIAL ROOM
23. DOCTOR TALKING TO HUANG
24. (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) LIU LIZHI, CHIEF SURGEON, SAYING: "The operation went very well. He can shake hands with us after the surgery and his health resumes to normal. I think he will not have major problems in his life."
25. NURSES TAKING CARE OF HUANG
STORY: A Chinese man with a massive tumour on his face which has stunted his growth and has forced him to live as a recluse, went through a second round of surgery on Monday (January 7).
During the three-hour operation, Huang Chuncai, 32, known as the "Elephant Man", had a 4.5 kg (10 lb) tumour taken off from his face at the Fuda Hospital in China's southern city of Guangzhou.
Doctors removed part of his crippling, 15 kg (33 lb) tumour mass from his head and face in July last year. Before that operation, Huang who is from Hunan province, could hardly speak because his tumour was so huge.
His left eye had been totally covered, his left ear hung down to his shoulder, and his right ear and jaw were engulfed by the mass.
"After my tumours are gone, I hope that I can go travel around Guangzhou and have fun," Huang said right before he went into the operating theatre.
The latest surgery, although not as risky as the first one, was challenging. The tumour was close to his ear and mouth, and doctors had to reconstruct and fix them after removing the tumour, according to the hospital's chief surgeon, Liu Lizhi.
But the operation was a success. "The operation went very well, he can shake hands with us after the surgery and his health resumes to normal.
I think he will not have major problems in his life", Liu said. Huang's condition has ostracized him from society, and after intense bullying from his classmates he was forced to leave school at the age of ten.
Huang is from a poor farming family that struggles to earn a living from the land, and simply could not afford the medical costs of treatment until the hospital offered to help.
The surgeries were also made possible through assistance from donations from people from around China. The hospital has successfully operated on two patients with facial tumours in the past. ENDS.
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