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Man with tumour the size of his head has life saved in miracle op | Daily Star MIRACLE OP: A man with a tumour as big as his HEAD pre-operation

The giant tumour was so large it had blinded Kenyan-born Mike Koech in one eye and threatened to kill him as it continued to grow.

Spanish surgeon Pedro Cavadas, 51, has told how if it had not been operated on it would have continued to grow and Koech would have "died miserably."

The tumour began as a small growth which continued to grow until it had consumed one side of 35-year-old Koech's face. HUGE: The tumour became so large that his nose and mouth were pushed to one side BRAND NEW: Koech was described as unrecognisable after the operation

“The size of the tumour scared doctors in India, and in that country there are good hospitals”

Pedro Cavadas

It became so large that his nose and mouth were pushed to one side and he lost his left eye.

Surgeons in Kenya and India had abandoned attempts to operate, intimated by the sheer size of the growth.

Cavadas explained: "The size of the tumour scared doctors in India, and in that country there are good hospitals."

He added: "He was at the limit of being operated, but the alternative for Mike was to die miserably and any option was better than that." LIFE-SAVER: Koech would have 'died miserably' had the surgeon not perform the operation

Cavadas - who heard about the case through the Red Cross - flew Koech to his clinic in Manises hospital, Valencia, through his charitable medical foundation.

Now - after a series of four operations in 2011, 2013 and 2015 and October this year- Keoch is almost unrecognisable.

Cavadas' team had to remove what remained of his left eye and part of his jaw, which is where the tumour had been regenerating itself.

Now Koech - who lost both his legs in a childhood accident - is set to return to Kenya on Sunday (4th December) to return to his job as a motorbike taxi driver. Cavadas said: "We could never remove his right eye because he would not be able to take care of his family.

"In addition, he is my friend and I made a pact with him, if we were not able to control the tumour, I would take care of his family."

The pair became so close that Koech's newborn daughter was named Carmen, after the surgeon's late mother.

Cavadas said: "During the process of recovery, Mike had a new daughter and he said that was thanks to me and he asked me to give her a name.

"At that time my mother had just died and I gave her her name, Carmen, who would have cried a lot about his story. We have a half-daughter."