The Telegraph
Eric Moger
Eric Moger’s life was turned upside down by an aggressive facial tumour the size of a tennis ball. To remove the cancerous growth, surgeons needed to take away, pretty much, all of the left hand side of the restaurant manager’s face. Instead of a cheekbone, eyeball and jaw he was left with a gaping hole.
The life saving surgery had rendered Mr Moger’s life extremely difficult; he drank and ate through a straw, he put his marriage on hold and had people constantly stop and staring at him in the street. 3D printing has changed all of that…
Previous attempts at traditional reconstructive surgery were unsuccessful, but a visit to the Embarrassing Bodies’ clinic (British television show on Channel 4) pointed him in the direction of 3D printing and Dr Andrew Darwood. Darwood has been using 3D printing for a couple of years for facial and dental reconstruction but this was his biggest challenge yet.
After taking a CT scan of Eric’s skull, surgeons built a titanium structure inside the wound, which would hold the Dr Darwood implant in place. Dr Darwood was able to build a replica of the right hand side of Eric’s face to fit perfectly into the wound. The results as you can see for yourself are remarkable.
Not only does the implant improve the aesthetics of Eric’s face but a silicone plate at the base also helps him talk, eat and drink without the aid of a straw. He told The Telegraph “We are still going to get married when this is all sorted out, I am going to get some new teeth fitted which means I can chew again too, but after that I am looking forward to getting married and restarting my life.
“Now I have a new face for the wedding I can restart my life after having it on hold for four and a half years.”
