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4-pound tumour removed from teen girl’s face thanks to charity of American business man

Haitian teen Hennglise Dorival had a 4lb tumour removed from her face.

Last month, a Haitian teen finally had the life-changing surgery she'd been needing for years: She had a 4-pound tumour removed from her face.

In 2011, Larry O'Reilly, a business man from Springfield, Missouri, travelled to Haiti to provide aid in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake that destroyed much of the small nation.

While handing out supplies at a Baptist school in the mountain village of Bahon, O'Reilly met Hennglise Dorival, a 12-year-old girl with a large, disfiguring mass on her face.

O'Reilly talked to the school's pastor and discovered the girl had never been to a doctor.

O'Reilly made it his mission to help her, eventually arranging for Hannglise to be flown to Port-au-Prince for an X-ray and consultation.

There she was diagnosed with ameloblastoma, a rare noncancerous tumour. While benign, the tumours spread quickly. Untreated, Hannglise's tumour would likely cut off pathways to vital organs.

O'Reilly contacted the Community Coalition for Haiti and arranged for American surgeons to fly to Haiti to perform reconstructive surgery on Hannglise. After a 12-hour surgery, the tumour was gone.

O'Reilly returned to the U.S.

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A year later, he travelled again to Haiti and visited the same Baptist school.

"We were there for a week, and the first person I wanted to see was Hennglise," O’Reilly told FoxNews.com. "And her face was swollen again. I thought, 'Oh my gosh, what’s going on?' It looked like she had kind of been punched. And [the pastor] said, 'No, it's come back.'"

Surgeons hadn't removed the tumour in its entirety after all, and it had regrown to its former size — and showed no signs of stopping.

O'Reilly knew he needed to get Hannglise to the U.S., a feat that proved difficult. She didn't have a birth certificate or passport, and American doctors and hospitals were hesitant to perform the risky procedure.

"I couldn't give up on her," O'Reilly told the Springfield News-Leader. "I knew it would be fairly tragic for her if something didn't happen."

This spring, O'Reilly's determination paid off. After Dr. William Magee of Operation Smile agreed to perform the complicated procedure, O'Reilly paid more than $120,000 in travel and medical expenses for Hennglise to get surgery at the Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters in Norfolk, Virginia. Her mother and two translators also made the trip.

In a 12-hour operation last month, surgeons removed the four-pound tumour, and then began reconstructing Hennglise's face. The tumour's massive size had pushed her left eye out of its socket and forced her nose and mouth to one side of her face.

When Hennglise's mother saw a photo of her daughter's new face, she couldn't contain her appreciation.

"I came into the waiting room afterward, and her mom almost tackled me," Magee told FoxNews.com. "She's kind of stone faced and doesn't express her emotions much, but after she saw a picture of her daughter, she almost knocked me over."

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The medical intervention came just in time. A doctor told O'Reilly that the tumour was threatening to cut off the girl's airway.

"He said she had a very limited time, maybe a week, maybe a month before it would have suffocated her," O'Reilly said. "She would have gone to sleep and not woken up."

The surgical team hopes to restore the girl's vision in the coming weeks. Hennglise will also require more surgery to finish reconstructing her jaw. She and her mother will remain the U.S. for another six months to receive the follow-up care she needs.

Magee is confident the tumour won't return this time.

"I'd love to see a way more kids like Hennglise can get help in the U.S." O'Reilly told the Springfield News-Leader.

"Hennglise has grabbed my heart forever."