• News
  • Film and TV
  • Music
  • Tech
  • Features
  • Celebrity
  • Politics
  • Weird
  • Community
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content
Man left with ‘no face’ after contracting infection that has 50% mortality rate

Home> Community> Life

Published 17:26 18 Jun 2024 GMT+1

Man left with ‘no face’ after contracting infection that has 50% mortality rate

Doctors admitted the prognosis was 'extremely grim' after he was diagnosed

Emily Brown

Emily Brown

Featured Image Credit: @Morbidful/ X/SAM UPSHAW JR. PHOTO via Moldhelp

Topics: Health, Science, US News

Emily Brown
Emily Brown

Emily Brown is UNILAD Editorial Lead at LADbible Group. She first began delivering news when she was just 11 years old - with a paper route - before graduating with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University. Emily joined UNILAD in 2018 to cover breaking news, trending stories and longer form features. She went on to become Community Desk Lead, commissioning and writing human interest stories from across the globe, before moving to the role of Editorial Lead. Emily now works alongside the UNILAD Editor to ensure the page delivers accurate, interesting and high quality content.

Advert

Advert

Advert

A Kentucky man was left with almost no face after he contracted a rare fungal infection with a 50 percent mortality rate.

Mark Tatum was in his early 40s when he contracted the infection, which can develop after contact with things like soil or rotting food.

After Tatum developed the infection, Dr Wayne K. Stadelmann, a plastic surgeon with the University of Louisville Medical Center, admitted doctors initially 'didn't think he was going to survive'.

Advert

Mark Tatum's face was reconstructed with skin from his leg. (FindAGrave)
Mark Tatum's face was reconstructed with skin from his leg. (FindAGrave)

"The prognosis was extremely grim," he added, as per CNN.

Known as mucormycosis or 'black fungus', the infection can come from inhaling or coming into contact with mold spores called mucormycetes, and can affect everything from the sinuses and skin to the lungs and brain.

The fungus had already infected Tatum's nose, eyes, cheekbones, upper jaw and teeth, and the doctors had to take action if they were going to stop it from killing him.

Advert

To prevent the fungus from traveling to his brain, doctors removed the infected areas of Tatum's face - leaving behind very little of his original features.

Looking back, Tatum said two things saved him when he was close to death: the love of his wife, and a dream he'd had in which his granddaughter reached out for his help.

After doctors removed the infected areas, Tatum then began a long process of undergoing surgeries to reconstruct the features of his head.

Doctors initially used skin and tissue taken from his leg to reconstruct the roof of Tatum's mouth so he could speak and eat.

Advert

Mark managed to survive the infection. ( SAM UPSHAW JR. PHOTO via Moldhelp)
Mark managed to survive the infection. ( SAM UPSHAW JR. PHOTO via Moldhelp)

Later, medics took a bone from Tatum's leg and put it into his face before building titanium bridgework, which in turn could hold a new prosthetic 'face'.

The prosthetic was created by prosthodontist Zafrulla Khan, of the University of Louisville, who described the work as the most extensive he'd ever made.

Two years after his ordeal began in 2000, Tatum commented: "Look at me now. I may not be beautiful, but I'm damn near it."

Advert

Tatum sadly passed away in 2005, but Dr Stadelman previously praised his resilience through the traumatic experience, saying: "He is a true testament to the human spirit."

Worryingly, infection from black fungus can happen to anyone at any age.

In fact, most people will come into contact with the fungus at some point in their everyday lives, according to WebMD, but those with weakened immune systems are more at risk of falling ill from contact with the spores.

Symptoms of infection include chest pain, swelling on one side of your face, sinus congestion and stomach pain.

Advert

The infection can be deadly, with the CDC noting that 'depending on the patient and body site(s) affected, mucormycosis may be associated with >50% mortality rate'.

Choose your content:

22 hours ago
2 days ago
3 days ago
  • 22 hours ago

    Heartbreaking story of woman who died in her apartment and wasn't discovered for decades

    Hedviga Golik's body remained in her apartment for over three decades

    Community
  • 2 days ago

    Woman who was in a coma for 3 weeks explains what it's like and how she 'lived a second life'

    The woman spoke of dreams that appeared 'more real than reality'

    Community
  • 2 days ago

    People are sharing their receipts as Trump's tariffs come into effect and the results are horrifying

    Business owners are some of the worst affected by Trump's hiked tariffs

    Community
  • 3 days ago

    People are going absolutely wild after Trump uploads AI-generated video of him playing piano to unsuspected song

    Donald Trump has uploaded a rather bizarre video of himself playing the piano to an iconic song

    Community
  • Scientists discovered a hiccup cure technique that actually has '100 percent cure rate'
  • Mom issues tattoo warning after developing life-threatening infection that left her facing foot amputation
  • 'Syphilis whistleblower' dies after exposing scandal that left hundreds without treatment
  • Chilling story of how one company introduced chemical that secretly poisoned people in everyday home item