Two surgeons in tricky 12-hour op

REBUILT Chris needed surgery to remove the aggressive tumour from the submandibular saliva gland, which also meant removal of a large section of the lower left jaw bone.

During the 12-hour operation the jaw had to be rebuilt from the iliac crest bone in the hip.

Professor Mark McGurk removed the cancer from her mouth, while another specialist worked on her hip area.

Her lower left 8, 7, 6 and 5 teeth were removed as was the surrounding bone, plus the lower jaw bone. The cancer was also in her tongue, so half of that was removed – along with neck lymph nodes.