One of the students had a massive facial tumor removed—measuring about the size of a basketball and weighing 6.6 pounds.

Adrián Espino, now 23, first noticed the issue when a small “bruise” appeared on his cheek at age six. As the growth expanded, he eventually became suicidal.

Local media reported that the tumor was so difficult to extract that surgeons needed to use a “hammer and chisel” during the operation.

Doctors informed his parents, Adrián Sr. and Maria, that his condition—fibrous dysplasia—had no cure, and that the tumor would continue growing for as long as he did.

Over time, the growth restricted Mr. Espino’s airways so severely that his life was at risk, making it increasingly hard for him to breathe and eat.

Since Dr. Laura Andrade Delgado removed the tumor, which weighed as much as a brick, the musician from Chihuahua, Mexico has experienced a life-changing transformation.

Mr. Espino, now appearing on the TLC series *Body Bizarre*, had been a healthy child before the condition developed.

His mother, Maria, first noticed the “bruise” on his face when he was six.
“I used to tell my husband, ‘Maybe he bumped into something, maybe he hurt himself,’” she recalled. “He was always crying and holding his face.”

His father eventually took him to the hospital, where doctors diagnosed him with polyostotic fibrous dysplasia, though the exact timeline of the diagnosis is unclear.

Fibrous dysplasia causes scar-like tissue to form instead of normal bone, leaving the affected bone weak, deformed, or prone to fractures.

The condition originates from a genetic mutation occurring early in pregnancy and is present from birth, although its prevalence is not well understood.

“Polyostotic” means multiple bones may be affected, though it remains uncertain whether other parts of Mr. Espino’s body are involved.