HIS 80kg tumour is record-breaking, but the size of his smile is what's really remarkable about Nguyen Duy Hai.

The 31-year-old Vietnamese man has had a tumour growing on his right leg since soon after he was born.



Despite having an amputation at the knee 14 years ago, he still has a 1m-wide growth.



"I can't do anything, I can only sit and lie down," he said in his home in the town of Da Lat in the country's Central Highlands.



The tumour is the largest ever documented in Vietnam, Vu Van Thach, head of examination department of Hanoi tumour hospital, told German press agency DPA.



"It's a record as far as we know," he said.



Hai's family are too poor to afford another operation after the amputation in 1997 failed to stop the growth, and now he is appealing for funds to afford medical help.



He lives under the care of his 61-year-old mother.



The tumour is non-cancerous and could be due to a genetic mutation, doctor Vu Van Thach said.



"If it was malignant he would not be alive now," he said.



The Red Cross works with needy communities in Vietnam.



Contact details for direct donations are provided (in Vietnamese) at VN Express.

Originally published as 'If it was malignant he would not be alive'