Man Who Suffered From Facial Tumors Starts New Life

When Maurice Simpson looks in the mirror he smiles and says, "I am probably the best looking man in the world."

He's always said it, even when his tumors were so large he could hardly fit his motorbike helmet over his face, even if he didn't always believe it.

Born with a rare condition that gave him huge facial tumors, Simpson, 34, has finally had surgery to save his life and give him a new face.

Simpson was born with neurofibromatosis, a genetic condition that causes nerve tissue to grow into tumors.

As a child, the right side of his face was engulfed with fleshly lumps that obscured his eye.

After seven painful operations the tumors continued to grow but Simpson didn't let the stares or cruel comments get him down.

"My parents taught me to be happy with who I am," said Simpson, from Ogden, Utah.

"At the age of fifteen I got tired of all the operations and decided to just get on with living."

And live he did. Simpson became a basketball coach, got a career as a restaurant manager and became a popular figure in his local community.

He met a woman, Tara Williams, and the couple had two children - Shayla, 13, and Christopher Rashawn, 11. The relationship didn't work out but the kids stayed with Simpson.

Then, in 2000, Simpson met the love of his life, Charity. He already had severe facial tumors but that didn't stop Charity falling head over heels in love with him.

"The first time I saw him I was a little shocked by his face," said Charity, 30, a supervisor at a food shop.

"But Maurice was so confident and flirtatious, he really shone. I thought he was very attractive. Maurice is so funny and charming, everybody wants to be near him," she said.

Simpson's tumors grew. "My face was getting so big I could hardly fit my motorbike helmet on."

Then in January 2010, an anonymous local businessman offered to pay thousands of dollars for him to have surgery.

"He said he'd seen Maurice around and he wanted to help," said Charity.

The couple accepted the kind offer and Simpson went to surgery in January this year in Utah.

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