Woman’s life transformed after surgery removed tumor that made it impossible to eat or breathe

By Harrison Moore via SWNS

A mum whose massive facial tumor left her barely able to eat or breathe is now living a normal life - thanks to the work of surgeons aboard a charity ship.

Mabouba, 29, first noticed the facial tumor in her teenage years and, as she grew older, her condition rapidly worsened.

By 2014 the tumor was so big that it had began to block her oesophagus and windpipe - leaving her unable to swallow more than bits of rice, egg and bread.

Sadly, emergency surgery in Ghana couldn't help - with Mabouba nearly losing her life on the operating table.

But, thanks to the arrival of Mercy Ships, a charity that provides medical care, she is now living a happy life.

Mabouba said: "I remember when I woke up I was completely transformed - I was a new person. I wiped tears from my eyes and thanked them for saving my life."

Relatives had tried everything to help Mabouba before the ship's arrival, even considering flying her from her home in Togo to Switzerland for treatment.

One said: “It had become very hard for her to eat, even to breathe. Even in the night you could hear – she was drawing air with great difficulty."

Mabouba's father organised her a nationality card and Swiss passport but, because of her condition, the visa application process was taking too long.

The family then scrambled for another solution, and with money from uncles, grandparents, and cousins they sent Mabouba to Ghana for emergency surgery.

But when they arrived, she was informed they needed to remove some teeth before completing the surgery - an operation that went horribly wrong.

A relative recalled: “The doctors said they had to remove some teeth before they could remove her tumor.

"Something went wrong, and she started bleeding everywhere. At one point she nearly died there and then."

With her health deteriorating quickly, Mabouba had to return home uncured and more desperate than ever.

In January 2016, Mabouba’s father came to Togo to see her and was immediately shocked by how her condition had worsened.

In a final bid to provide his daughter with the help she needed, he contacted the Swiss office of the international development charity Mercy Ships.

It became apparent the charity’s hospital ship the Africa Mercy was scheduled to dock at a port in Togo that very August and Mabouba would be seen.

But as time passed Mabouba’s condition continued to deteriorate and she was becoming sicker and sicker.

Her appointment finally arrived on September 17, and she travelled to the port knowing this would be her last chance.

Mabouba, now a mum-of-one, said: "Those days my mind was always preoccupied with the tumor. Day and night I could think of little else."

Once onboard, tests revealed that the tumor would soon starve her to death, and it would be extraordinarily difficult to remove.

But the surgeons were determined to do everything they could for her, and after nine hours of surgery, they successfully removed the tumor.

Five years on, Mabouba, is a seamstress in her own tailor shop and a mother to a five-year-old daughter.

She also recently celebrated getting married to a man who she met one day outside a bank - and says it was love at first sight.

Mabouba added: “I used to think I wasn’t beautiful, and that I would never get married. If I hadn't had this operation, I don't know what would have happened to me.

"That's why I give thanks to those great people who gave me this life."