A 14-year-old boy has a tumor growing on his face that is so large it is creating a risk of suffocation, and doctors plan to remove it when the boy arrives in Miami from Cuba next month. Emanuel Zayas was born with a condition known as polyostotic fibrous dysplasia, which is when the body replaces tissue sometimes with bone, resulting in deformities.

The tumor started as a zit on his nose when he was 11, but it was actually skull bone growing from his upper jaw. Today, it weighs 10 pounds, the size of a basketball, and it covers his whole face. The tumor is non-cancerous, but if it keeps growing, it will suffocate him, doctors fear.

But Emanuel has obtained a medical visa to allow him to travel to Miami, where surgeons will remove his tumor, which will hopefully not only allow him to see and eat normally again, but also give him his identity back.

“Emanuel Zayas, 14, was born with a disorder called polyostotic fibrous dysplasia, a condition that replaces multiple areas of bones with fibrous tissue and may cause fractures and deformity of the legs, arms, and skull,” reads a statement from the Jackson Health Foundation. “In his case, the condition began affecting his left arm and leg at age 4. For the most part, Emanuel continued to live a normal and healthy life in his native Cuba. But at age 11, Emanuel noticed what appeared to be a zit growing on the left side of his nose. The bump continued to grow excessively and was later identified as an ossifying fibroma – an extremely large benign tumor that now weighs approximately 10 pounds, and is the size of a basketball. The tumor has taken over his face, and has severely affected the bone structure of his upper jaw and nose.”