Zhao Xingfu never removed the tumour as he said it didn’t hurt and his family couldn’t afford the medical bills (Picture: AsiaWire)

A man has finally had a 15kg tumour removed from his neck after nearly 50 years.

Doctors in China spent 10 hours operating on Zhao Xingfu, 64, who said the benign fat-tissue tumour was the size of an egg when it appeared 47 years ago.

He was just 17 at the time, living in Panzhou City in China’s south-western Guizhou province, but he never sought medical attention because the growth, known as a lipoma, did not hurt and his family could not afford it.

His son, Zhao Jianjiang, said he has never seen his dad without the lipoma on the back of his neck.




He said: ‘I’ve only known my father with the large tumour, so I gradually became accustomed to it.’

This shocking x-ray shows just how much of a burden it’s been for five decades (Picture: AsiaWire)

The tumour was three times the size of his own head (Picture: AsiaWire)

His son raised money so his father could finally afford the removal surgery (Picture: AsiaWire)

He recently sought the help of Dong Shixiang, a doctor at the Guizhou Tumour Hospital in provincial capital Guiyang, after noticing his dad struggling to walk under the weight of the heavy tumour.

Dr Dong said: ‘In all my years, I’d never seen such a large tumour.’

With the help of family members, Jianjiang raised enough money for the surgery, which took place last week.

Dr Dong said it took him and two other surgeons 10 hours to remove, and even then they had only cut out about 95%.

It took three surgeons 10 hours to remove the huge benign tumour (Picture: AsiaWire)

But it will be enough for Xingfu to live the remainder of his life free from its burden.

He has since been discharged from hospital and is continuing his post-op recovery at home.

Xingfu admitted to feeling ‘relieved’ after the surgery, but said jokingly: ‘I’m not used to it not being there yet.’