A young woman and her unborn baby have miraculously survived pioneering surgery to remove a tumour the size of a watermelon growing inside the expectant mother's chest.
Nicola Ellington, 26, was unaware her body was feeding not just her baby but also a deadly teratoma tumour.
The teratoma - Greek for monster - is so-called because it is often made up from cancerous cells that form teeth and hair.
Miss Ellington and her unborn daughter Layla Sky - now aged 13-weeks - faced certain death as the tumour continued to grow crushing her heart and lungs.
Surgeons decided the tumour - which had lain dormant in Miss Ellington's body for decades since birth - had to be removed or both mother and baby would die.
Doctors had initially failed to spot the tumour, and simply told the expectant mother to take morphine.
A desperate Miss Ellington turned to heart specialists at University Hospital Coventry, West Midlands, where MRI scans revealed the tumour had already grown to be as big as her left lung.
It took two hours for doctors to remove the mass, and Miss Ellington stayed in hopsital until December, when Layla Sky was born weighing a healthy 7lbs.
For more on this story follow the link: www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1279036/world-operation-saves-pregant-woman-unborn-baby-monster-tumour-chest.html
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