A New Face Emerges for Formerly Disfigured Man
Oct. 26, 2009 — -- No one could blame James O'Neal for looking in the mirror a few times a day and admiring the contours of his face -- chiseled jaw, straight nose, smooth planed cheek. They are, after all, brand new.
Disfigured by an 11-pound mass of tumors so large they dominated the left side of his face, O'Neal, 47, from Woodinville, Wash., had surgery in August to remove the tumors and to reconstruct his face.
"I didn't recognize myself when I first saw it," O'Neal told ABC News affiliate KOMO News in Seattle. "I like the nose -- I like that best. I can actually breathe out of both nostrils, that's nice. I like that."
O'Neal's tumors were the result of a genetic disorder called neurofibromatosis that causes benign tumors to grow on nerve cells. The weight of the mass slowly distorted O'Neal's face and twisted his nose so much that breathing was difficult.
Still, O'Neal never shied away from people around him, working as a checker at a local Safeway. His customers became his admirers, then his friends, then his advocates.
With help from his community and with support pouring in from around the world, O'Neal was able to have surgery to remove the tumor tissue from his face.
"[For me], it's incredibly rewarding," said Katie Knopf, a long-time customer of O'Neal's who lead fundraising efforts for him through a blog. "I'm the most proud that I was able to follow through and that everyone else made it really simple to follow through. I really wanted to see his life get changed for the better."
Dr. Peter Neligan, director of the Center for Reconstructive Surgery at the University of Washington Medical Center, donated his surgical skill to remove O'Neal's tumors.
O'Neal's first operation, in November 2008, removed 8 pounds of tumor tissue, but was cut short because he was losing too much blood. The second operation this year went more smoothly.
"We knew going in it would be less complicated," Neligan said. "The results have been very gratifying."
After removing the last traces of tumor tissue, Neligan used leg tendons as a sort of sling to support O'Neal's nose, which the tumor had twisted out of shape, and keep the corner of his mouth in position. O'Neal's ear, which was misshapen and hung low off his tumor mass, was restructured and repositioned.
