Pinki Kumari, a 16-year-old Indian woman, had a swelling on her face so huge that it seemed larger than her head. The tumor began to grow on Pinky's face when she was only two and a half years old. Every year the swelling got bigger, distorting the child's face.
Due to a progressive tumor on her face, Pinky Kumari became an outcast among other children and was unable to continue to go to school. She underwent two operations, first at the age of 6, then at the age of 12, but both were unsuccessful and did not stop the growth of the tumor.
Recently, the girl's desperate parents turned to specialists who were able to find the only correct solution to this problem. They examined the girl and learned that the growth of the tumor began from part of the jaw. When the girl was operated on, removing the tumor and replacing the problem part of the jaw with an artificial implant, the disease was defeated.
“The doctors didn't just give me a new face, they gave me a new life,” says Pinky, who now dreams of becoming a beautician.
“I’m also thrilled to be going to school again. I want to meet old friends and make new ones. I want to lead a normal life like any 16 year old.
The daughter's treatment was a big problem for her father, who works as a tailor and earns about Rs 400 a day ($ 6) to support a family of six. After two surgeries failed to cure Pinky, father and daughter traveled a long way from eastern India to the southern city of Vellore and the Christian Medical College there. The doctors at this college told them that Pinky's tumor was curable.
Over the next two years, 350 thousand rupees were collected for the operation of the girl, including the government of Jharkhand state. The doctors said that Pinky's tumor is very rare and they know only 50 cases in the world when it was detected in humans. The tumor grew from the tissues of the lower jaw bone.
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When the surgery was finally carried out, the tumor was removed along with part of the lower jaw, replacing the latter with an artificial version with titanium mounts. During the second operation, the girl had 8 extracted teeth replaced with new ones.
On November 9, 2016, Pinky was discharged from the hospital.
Once Pinky could hardly open her mouth, but now she can talk for hours with friends on the phone. And she can't wait to get back to school and then go to college.