A man has revealed how irritation with his eye turned out to be a cancerous tumour that invaded his entire skull – and he needed his entire face rebuilt in order to save his life.
When Roman Ribalchenko’s left eye began to continuously water out-of-the-blue, he simply assumed something had gotten caught in it.
He previously had a tiny metal fragment trapped in his eye due to his line of work, so went to his local eye doctor, who cleaned the area.
But the tearing only continued.
Stumbled by the cause, he visited an ear, nose and throat doctor, who carried out a CT scan, MRI and biopsy – which discovered a tumour growing on the left side of his nose.
Sadly, it had been left for so long that it had spread into his eye socket, facial skeleton, frontal bone, skull base and dura; the protective membrane surrounding the brain.
After chemotherapy failed, he only had one option left: an entire facial reconstruction.
“I was very frightened and upset,” the engineer told Need To Know.
“But I believe in chance and trusted my doctors.
“There were many serious risks, including the possible loss of my nose and left eye.
“If this wasn’t carried out, though, I would die.”
Prior to the battle, the 50-year-old had led an active lifestyle.
Most of his time was spent at work, though he enjoyed spending time with his wife, Svetlana, 47, and their dog.
Despite the invasive surgery being his only hope of getting to live those precious memories again, he was equally at high risk going through it.
He was diagnosed with an aggressive form of adenoid cystic carcinoma in January 2026, with the surgery carried out in May.
It took place at Israel’s largest health organisation, Clalit Health Services – Beilinson Hospital, located near Tel Aviv.
The procedure, performed by the Director of the Head and Neck Oncologic and Reconstructive Surgery Unit, Dr Esmat Najjar, was deemed almost impossible.
He said: “This resection was at the very edge of what is surgically possible.
“Removing the cancer was only half the challenge.
“You cannot leave a person without a face.
“Our mission was not only to save his life, but to reconstruct the structures that would allow him to live with dignity and function again.”
During the first 12 hour operation, surgeons – including neck oncologists, maxillofacialists, ophthalmologists and neuro specialists – removed the tumour, frontal bone, nasal bones, cheekbones and the entire eye socket, as well as part of the dura.
Roman spent two weeks recovering and awaiting results to confirm the cancer had been cleared.
Once the results were in, and they were positive, another 10 hour procedure was underway to reconstruct his face.
Using bone, muscle and blood vessels harvested from Roman’s shoulder blade, the team were able to rebuild his forehead, cheekbones and eye socket.
The transplanted tissue was connected to blood vessels in the neck, which allowed the tissue to remain alive and capable of healing with the help of radiation therapy.
Dr Najjar said: “His eye was essentially left without a socket to support and protect it.
“We had to build it a new home.
“At the same time, we had to recreate the protective barrier over the brain, restore the facial skeleton and make it possible for him to breathe, eat, speak and walk outside without feeling like he had to hide.”
Now, Roman has returned home and is breathing, eating and drinking independently – and, in the coming weeks, he’ll travel to Vienna to receive radiation therapy.
His wife, Svetlana, said: “We are a family that never gives up.
“We chose to fight.
“It doesn’t matter to me what he looks like, though.
“I love him exactly the same.
“The only thing that matters is that he’s alive.”
Roman added: “I woke up desperate for a drink.
“I’m still recovering, though I hope to reach the end of that road soon.
“I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all the surgeons involved for giving me the chance to live again.”
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