FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - A man has been suffering from a debilitating and painful condition for decades, but that may soon come to an end, thanks to a generous gesture.
“The tumor just keeps growing and growing and growing,” said Jacob Beneby.
When you look at Jacob, the first thing many immediately notice is his face. He’s been living in the Bahamas with a rapidly spreading tumor for about 30 years.
But he’s known for more than that. He’s a 46-year-old father to four kids, he’s a husband and he just wants to live a normal life.
“I went and it came back, and I went to them and had the third surgery. They cut it and it got bigger and bigger,” Jacob said.
After many failed surgeries over the years, doctors in the Bahamas said there was nothing more they could do and told Jacob to seek another option.
His family wasn’t ready to give up.
“One of my cousins, he said, ‘I’m tired of seeing you like this, I’m going to see if I could get some help for you,'” Jacob said.
The family got in contact with Dr. Roland Hernandez at Broward Health Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale. He immediately stepped in to help Jacob at no cost.
“I was contacted and asked if I was interested in helping, and of course I jumped at the opportunity,” Hernandez said. “As all physicians want to do, we want to help our patients, and when we know that we have the ability to do so, it is almost impossible to turn around and to say no to.”
Although Beneby’s able to eat and breath normally now, Hernandez said it soon will become impossible to do both if the entire tumor isn’t removed.
“It will continue to grow uncontrollably. It will not stop,” Hernandez said.
Which is why, with the help of Dr. Hernandez and the staff at Memorial Regional Hospital, Beneby will be having the first of three surgeries in just over a week, bringing him one step closer to a better life.
“We’re hoping he’s going to look very much like normal immediately after surgery,” Dr. Hernandez said.
That’s something his family is looking forward to.
“We’re really excited, our kids are excited. We just want to be able to look at him as Jacob without the tumor,” said Jacob’s wife Princess.
Despite getting help from Dr. Hernandez, Jacob’s family doesn’t have insurance for the hospital stay or the medications he might need after the surgery.
They set up a GoFundMe page to help those expenses.
To make a donation, click here.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.