The 55-year-old Canadian, due to a cancer tumor that suddenly popped up on his nose, lost first his nose, then part of his forehead, eyes, and eventually was left with a huge hole in the middle of his face.
He thought he would eventually die, but miraculously managed to survive.
The man now wears a disguised face mask, which is not held very well with glue, which makes him very upset. Because of his frightening appearance, a man cannot leave the house without a mask.
A resident of Montreal, Silvand Farand, learned about the terrible diagnosis 10 years ago. Doctors said that he had cancer of the paranasal sinuses and lymph and that he was so dangerous that Farand had no more than six months to live.
“It all started with a small cyst in my left nostril and I decided to remove it because I felt uncomfortable. When the hospital told me it was cancer and I had 6 months left, I was completely devastated. But I have always been a fighter and I wanted to fight, not just wait for death."
Doctors did not offer the man any chemotherapy, but decided to have an operation. In 2010, part of his nose, along with his left nostril, was removed and doctors used a piece of skin from his auricle to repair the nose.
It seemed all terrible was behind, but the cancer had already metastasized and soon a big ugly lump began to grow on Farand's nose.
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In 2012, surgeons had to remove the man's entire nose entirely, and instead of a nose, he now had a big terrible failure.
Then it got worse. The cancer continued to eat away at the edges of the wound and it enlarged and now took over part of the forehead and began to engulf the right eye.
In 2014, surgeons removed even more flesh from his face, including an eye with a piece of the eye socket, part of his cheek, and a piece of his forehead. Only after that, the spread of cancer was stopped, but now the man was missing half of his face.
To close the deep hole, doctors transplanted a piece of skin and flesh from his thigh into Farand's face during a grueling 12-hour operation.
Fortunately, the wound healed well, and after that, in 2016, Faranda was made a plastic prosthesis with a nose and a missing eye.
The prosthesis was attached to glue, but it did not hold well and could fall off the face at the most inopportune time. Now experts want to make a new prosthesis for the man, which can be fixed with screws.
After all that he went through during his 10-year struggle with the disease, Sylvanas Farand learned to value true friendship and kindness. Most people try to avoid him and only the most devoted friends stayed with him and supported him.
But even with a prosthesis, he is still afraid to leave the house once again. He says that people often look back at him and he feels uncomfortable.