A 12-year-old girl can finally smile again after surgeons removed a tumour engulfing her whole face. Kaltoumi was given just three months to live as the tumour restricted her eating and slowly suffocated her as it grew over five years. But she was saved after surgeons aboard the Africa Mercy, a hospital ship providing care to third world countries, docked in Cameroon to perform surgery.
Kaltoumi, who can now eat properly for the first time in five years, said after the surgery: ‘It feels like a heaviness has been lifted from me.’
The Cameroonian government flew Kaltoumi to the port where the Africa docked and the surgical team worked tirelessly to remove the tumour.
Kaltoumi saw her new face in the mirror the next day and beamed the smile of her seven-year-old self. But the road to recovery was long and she returned to the ship several months later to tighten the skin where the tumour sat.
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