Vishal Thakkar says having no nose is "worse than being dead".

New Yorker Vishal Thakkar wanted to "do something selfish" after his divorce in 2006 - get a nose job.

He went to a top plastic surgeon for the procedure, but immediately after his surgery he noticed something was wrong.

"I had the first surgery and suffered some breathing problems, nothing too bad, but it made it hard to exercise and sleep," he told news channel Fox 23.

Six years and 22 surgeries later, and Mr Thakkar woke up in horror after his surgeon, Dr Angelo Cuzalina, removed his entire nose.

"He told me that there was an infection in there and since I was on the operating table and unconscious he had to make the decision," Mr Thakkar told Fox 23.

He is suing Dr Angelo Cuzalina and his practice for gross negligence and incompetence.

"There is no way I am going to live like this. It is worse than being dead," he said.

According to an expert quoted in Mr Thakkar's lawsuit, Dr Cruzalina made basic errors.

"By the time that the defendants were through mutilating the plaintiff under the guise of 22 plastic surgeries, Mr Thakkar was left grossly deformed, with his nose amputated, and breathing from a straw in the middle of his face, where his nose once was," the expert says.

The lawsuit also accuses Dr Cuzalina of trying to intimidate Mr Thakkar out of suing.

However, Dr Cuzalina has accused Mr Thakkar of making threats against "my staff, my practice, and me personally".