Elephant man to undergo surgery

A Chinese "elephant man" with a crippling 33 lb tumor drooping from his head and face -- the biggest on record -- will undergo life-threatening surgery on Tuesday to have it removed.

Huang Chuncai, 31, from the southern province of Hunan, can hardly speak because the mass is so huge, he has to cradle it when he stands. His left eye is totally covered, his left ear hangs to his shoulder, and his right ear and jaw have been engulfed.

He recently visited his hometown to see relatives before the operation. "Because I am going to have surgery, I am afraid of how everything will turn out," he said. "I came back to see my parents one more time."

Huang's face and head swelled when he was a child and, according to a neighbor, his mother said he should be a government official when he grew up because his head was so big.

"His head got bigger and bigger each year," said neighbor Huang Bamei, who shares the same name.

The fleshy tumor is about 22.4 inches long and has a 38 inches perimeter at its end; Huang stands 4 ft 5 inches high, records from a hospital in the city of Guangzhou said. He lost his teeth at the age of 25, it said, and his backbone became malformed because of the weight. As Huang left home for hospital, his tearful mother waved goodbye and said she hoped he would be able to live a normal life after surgery.

"I am holding his hand, patting his head, and he told me: 'Don't cry mother. I should get better. Everything that can be cured, will be cured.' I love him a lot," said Huang's mother, He Baohua.