Surgeons have successfully removed Da Lat native Nguyen Duy Hai's 90kg tumour. His family made the announcement yesterday evening.
Held at the France-Vietnam Hospital (FV), American doctor McKay McKinnon and a team of surgeons started the operation on 32-year-old Hai at 10am (Singapore time) on Thursday.
12 hours later, the team completed the surgery and Hai was sent to the recovery room to rest.
Dr McKinnon agreed to waive his fee for the operation. The excess medical fee of VND252 million (S$15,500) had already been covered by donations - both local and international.
Mr Hai's family told Vietnamese news agency Tuoitrenews that he is stable.
"Dr McKinnon told my mother that the surgery has ended successfully and my brother is likely to regain consciousness tomorrow (Friday) morning when she can talk to him," said Nguyen Duy Sang, Hai's younger brother.
Hai's family members and friends, who had left Da Lat central highlands province, Hai's hometown, for Ho Chi Minh City to pray for him, burst into tears of joy after being told that Hai survived the operation.
The surgery team comprised Dr McKinnon (the main surgeon), Dr Phan Van Thai, Dr Le Duc Tuan, and Dr Nguyen Quoc Thai. Dr Gerad Desvignes, medical director of FV, supervised the procedure.
Hai was born a normal child but developed the tumour soon after. When he was four years old, his right leg showed abnormal signs of growing much faster than the left.
By the time Hai was 17, the tumour weighed about 25kg. He then had an amputation at the knee at Lam Dong General Hospital.
In 2001, the amputated leg developed a tumour again, which kept growing until it was 1.2m in size.
The swelling spread to his lower body and back.
His tumour weighed 90kg before the operation.
The news of the successful procedure drew congratulatory messages.
"Congratulations and thanks Dr Mckinnon, FV team and all friends involved in this walk of hope with Hai and his family," said Sam-Ottawa, a Tuoitrenews reader.
"I'm sure millions of people around the world are happy for Hai and his dear family," he added.
Timeline
Timeline of Hai's historic day
(In Singapore time, or GMT +8:00)
7.30am: Hai was sent to the operating room.
7.40am - 9:50am: Hai was anaesthetised and sterilised on the operating table before the surgery began.
9.55am: Dr Mc Kinnon begins to operate on Hai with an electric bistoury.
11.00am: Doctors removed a part of the tumour which is 50cm long and 5 - 7cm deep.
12 noon: A foreign doctor at FV hospital told Hai's family that the first phase of the operation is a success. Around the same time, La Thi Thu Hang, Hai's sister-in-law who was watching the surgery via a live telecast, told Tuoitrenews that doctors removed a white clot from Hai's body. She said it looked like a chicken egg.
12.15: Doctors operated down to Hai's rear end.
1.30pm: The surgery team halted the operation for a while to wash medical equipment and to take a short rest.
7.00pm: The operation to remove his giant tumour was announced to be successful.
9:15pm: Hai was sent to the recovery room and the historic operation was officially finished.
This article was contributed by Tuoi Tre News. For more information, visit the website https://www.tuoitrenews.vn/.
Additional reporting by AsiaOne.