Horror of man with no face

Shocking ... Jose with sister

"CHILDREN see me and start crying," Jose Mestre mumbles sadly from behind the monstrous 12lb growth that is eating his face.

"They probably think I'm an animal. Why me, why has this happened to me?"

Jose has one of the most extreme facial tumours ever seen in medical history.

And the 51-year-old, from Portugal, is in danger of being suffocated by it unless he undergoes drastic surgery in 2008.

Unemployed Jose is blind in one eye as a result of the giant weeping growth that has consumed his features.

Lonely ... Jose

For years he has struggled to eat properly or carry out everyday tasks.

The tumour has taken over his mouth and tongue, ballooning his lips, twisting his gums and breaking his teeth off.

The deep, 15cm long growth - which started as a birth mark when he was just 11 - was sparked by abnormalities in his capillaries and veins.

It started to get much bigger when he hit 16 and has been expanding ever since.

It also bleeds frequently and most mornings Jose's pillow is covered with blood from the night before.

"My face is ugly but my heart is not," he pleads. "I just want people to understand who I am.

"I don't like to speak very much because I dribble all the time."

Jose lives in Lisbon and spends most of his days sitting in one of the city's main squares watching the world go by - as well as being gawped at by members of the public and quizzed about his face.

Advertisement

Many take photos on camera phones of the man known locally by the hurtful nickname 'Stained Skin.'

And his looks have also made him an unlikely 'celebrity' in the area.

Jose's condition went overlooked for years as a mixture of misdiagnosis and personal problems saw the years roll by without medical attention.

After his mother died several years ago, Jose's younger sister Guida, who has a 9-year-old daughter of her own, became his primary carer.

She balances life as a hairdresser with looking after him, ordering his food and being on call 24/7.

And Guida wears her heart on her sleeve when it comes to her views on his treatment.

Recently Jose flew to the UK to discuss the possibility of surgery to remove part of the tumour.

But because his mother was a Jehovah's Witness, he refused any surgery because his religion means he can't have blood transfusions.

This made Guida fume and her brother's stubbornness led to her storming out of a surgeon's surgery.

Carer ... sister Guida looks after him

"Die alone, not with me. For me, finished," she yelled as her frustration boiled over and her calls for him to take blood fell on death ears.

But soon after she was feeling much better as it seemed there was finally a light at the end of the tunnel.

Doctors in London came up with a plan to remove parts of the growth bit by bit - without transfusion.

And after days of uncertainty, Jose finally agreed to go under the knife after returning to Portugal to think it over.

He is expected to come back to the UK soon once a date is set for the operation which will transform his face - and his life - forever.

"I feel sad and annoyed," he says. "If it wasn't for the blood inside I would cut it myself.

"I get upset because people come up to me, take a photo and go.

"I want to be able to talk to my friends, speak to everybody and feel my eyes.

"And I would love to travel and see the world."

JOSE'S unbelievable story was recently told in a Discovery Channel Documentary The Man With No Face.