text: Emanuel Zayas, 14, will have surgery at Holtz Children's Hospital at Jackson Memorial in Miami, this holiday season to remove a 10-pound tumor that covers his face. (Photo: C.M. Guerrero, AP) 
   
   A 14-year-old boy died after undergoing surgery to remove a 10-pound tumor from his face. 
   
   Emanuel Zayas and his family traveled to the U.S. from Cuba to have the surgery in Miami. Doctors and relatives confirmed Zayas died Friday, according to statements reported by the Miami Herald and NBC 6 in Miami. 
   
   "I am saddened by the fact that we are losing him and that the physiological stress of the surgery was apparently too much for his compromised anatomy," said Dr. Robert Marx, chief of oral and maxillofacial surgery for the University of Miami Health System, in a statement to the Herald. "Our hopes of saving his life, and with that allowing him a better quality of life, were not realized." 
   
   When the growth first appeared, Zayas and his parents thought it was just a pimple, but the tumor eventually grew bigger than a basketball. 
   
   Although the tumor was benign, doctors were concerned it was big enough to suffocate Zayas or break his neck. Last month, doctors revealed a surgery had been scheduled to have the tumor removed. 
   
   "Our condolences and prayers for Emanuel's family and the loss of a very brave young man," said Marx, as reported by NBC 6. "Another angel has arrived in heaven." 
   
   Zayas' condition is known as polyostotic fibrous dysplasia, which caused the boy's body to develop scar-like tissue instead of bone. Marx first learned of Zayas' condition after viewing photos and X-rays presented by missionaries during a medical conference. 
   
   Marx said Zayas' family will donate his body to science to help them learn more about polyostotic fibrous dysplasia. 
   
   Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @brettmolina23. 
   
   Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2F4aRSi ||||| Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period.
target: – A 10-pound tumor with the potential to suffocate or break the neck of the Cuban 14-year-old whose face it was covering was successfully removed in Miami, but then things took a turn. The Miami Herald reports Emanuel Zayas died Friday night due to kidney and lung complications at the Holtz Children's Hospital. Emanuel suffered from polyostotic fibrous dysplasia, which USA Today reports spurs the body to grow something akin to scar tissue instead of bone; his family initially thought the growth, which the Washington Post reports surfaced when he was 11, was a pimple. His parents sought help for years, but Cuban doctors were too skittish over the risks of surgery. The family finally secured a humanitarian visa. It allowed him to fly to Miami on Nov. 27 and undergo surgery Jan. 13 at the hands of Dr. Robert Marx, who heads up maxillofacial surgery at the University of Miami Health System and had once removed a woman's 16-pound facial tumor. Said Marx in a statement: "After visiting Emanuel last night and observing a ray of hope from his pupillary reflexes and the muscle tone of his face, I was informed this morning that his condition had turned grave. ... The physiological stress of the surgery was apparently too much for his compromised anatomy. Our hopes of saving his life, and with that allowing him a better quality of life, were not realized." Marx says the teen's body will be donated to science by the family, in hopes of learning more about the condition.