An Australian teenager has incredibly survived a surgery many experts refused to touch "with a 10-foot pole".
Melbourne's Ciara Nelson is now recovering at home after having a brain tumour removed by five hours of keyhole surgery, News.com.au reports.
The high-grade glioma was so severe only one surgeon was willing to go near it. Doctors said attempting to operate on 18-year-old Ms Nelson was too risky, with a high chance of brain damage, stroke or death.
But Ms Nelson's mother, Colleen Nelson, posted on her Facebook two weeks ago the surgery was successful, with neurosurgeon Charlie Teo believing he had removed 100 percent of the tumour.
Ms Nelson says she believes her family is very fortunate Dr Teo is in the country because no other doctor would touch her.
"No one would touch her with a 10-foot pole, and we are just lucky that he took a gamble and was able to do it."
The tumour was first discovered in 2016 after Ms Nelson was hit in the head during a netball game, News.com.au reports. She later started vomiting and her mother assumed she had suffered a concussion.
But when an MRI discovered her tumour was high-grade, she was immediately admitted to hospital.
Ms Nelson now has four weeks to ensure the tumour has been completely removed. Her mother says she is getting stronger every day.
"She is still very tired and it is going to take a while. There is a little bit of disturbance to her vision, but we are hoping that it's only temporary."
Newshub.
