Sharanjeet Kaur, from India’s Punjab region, developed a tumour when she was just 15 years old that has caused her face to droop to the point that parts of her skin cover her eyes, leaving her visually impaired
Heartbreaking footage of the woman whose face is ‘melting’ from one side due to a childhood tumour have been released.
Housewife Sharanjeet Kaur’s, 38, nightmare began when she had a tumour on her face at just 15 years old. Living in Phagwara, Punjab, India with her husband, Sharanjeet’s face looks heart-wrenchingly melting and drooping. Due to her melting face, she is unable to see from one of her eyes that has led her incapable of doing many things.
However, Sharanjeet has kept her ground and does all the household work very well, with Sharanjeet’s entire face disfigured due to her condition. Sharanjeet’s problems do not end with her melting face, her husband is blind as well.
Even with possible treatment available, Sharanjeet cannot get her melting face repaired because of the high costs of medical expenses. “I had a tumour on my face at 15 years old, due to which one of my eyes was completely damaged,” said Sharanjeet. “I cannot see even from my other eye. I have had to face many problems because of that. Despite not having eyes, I do all the household work very well.”
Sharanjeet explained what family life is like for her and her husband. “My husband is also blind but he also does all the work well,” she said. “My family and my husband are very poor and they cannot afford my expensive treatment. The doctors say that the treatment of me and my husband will cost a lot but we do not have any means of earning, so we cannot get the treatment done.”
In 2023, an Indian man shared how he developed a similar rare condition, which left his face looking like it’s melting off. Govardhan Das, 52, said that he’s still loved and respected by his community despite being so noticeably different.
The Punjab-based shopkeeper has neurofibromatosis type 1, a super rare genetic “condition characterized by changes in skin coloring (pigmentation) and the growth of tumours along nerves in the skin, brain, and other parts of the body,” according to Medlineplus.gov.
Also known as Von Recklinghausen’s disease, the face-disfiguring disease occurs in 1 in 3,000 to 4,000 people worldwide.Das didn’t exhibit signs of neurofibromatosis until he was 20, when the taffy-like tumours sprouted up on his face, predominantly affecting the right side. Over the next three decades, the masses snowballed to the point that he lost his right ear and eye and half of his mouth while his nose is grossly distended.