Cuban teen dies after having 10-pound tumor removed from face
MIAMI — A Cuban teenager has died, days after doctors in Miami removed a 10-pound tumor from his face.
The Miami Herald reports that 14-year-old Emanuel Zayas’ condition went downhill after the surgery at the Holtz Children’s Hospital at Jackson Memorial Hospital. He died Friday from lung and kidney complications.
Dr. Robert Marx, head of the maxillofacial surgery at the University of Miami Health System, said the Zayas family donated the boy’s remains to science with the goal of learning more about Polyostotic fibrous dysplasia.
The teen’s tumor was benign, but it pressed on his trachea and threatened to suffocate him. The family came to Miami for medical care that wasn’t available in Cuba.
His parents, Noel Zayas and Melvis Vizaino are pastors of an evangelical church in Santa Clara.
