Man left with 'elephant's trunk' nose after having two cancerous tumours removed says he looks 'better than ever' after amazing doctors reconstructed his face with skin from his forehead

A man left with two gaping holes in his face after his battle with skin cancer said he was in 'awe' after remarkable doctors managed to reconstruct his nose using skin from his forehead. 

Peter, 74, featured in Really's brand-new programme The Face Doctors, which follows patients undergoing life-changing surgery and cutting-edge treatment to rebuild and repair their faces. 

In the show Peter visits experts at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge to have a complex, multiple-phase surgery to reconstruct his nose, with the help of a flap of skin from his forehead.

Peter was left with two holes in the middle of his face after his tumours were removed and an initial surgery resulted in giving Peter an 'elephant's trunk' nose due to its shape. 

But after meeting with consultant plastic surgeon Mr Ahid Abood and undergoing life-changing second-stage surgery, Peter looked unrecognisable with his brand-new nose and minimal scarring. 

Peter, 74, appears on The Face Doctors, where surgeons seek to fix his 'elephant trunk' (pictured)

By the end of the programme Peter reveals his brand new nose with minimal scarring 

Peter said the unusual shape of his 'elephant's trunk' had affected his confidence and, despite usually being outgoing, he started to wear a cap outside to hide it. 

Speaking before the surgery he said: 'This they call the elephant's trunk. It's a very good description of what it is. It does look bizarre though doesn't it. 

'When I go out I tend to wear a cap, or a hat that I pull down fairly low over my face. 

'People are used to seeing people with plaster casts on limbs, but facial surgery is probably a little bit different, it's fairly obvious that you've had something done, and you don't look normal for a while.'

During the nasal reconstruction, doctors removed the middle segment from his nose and began to contour it to look more like a nose should. 

Mr Ahid made repeated incisions to divide the 'trunk', disconnecting the skin bridge and trimming off any excess skin, before stitching Peter's nose back together. 

In the initial surgery, doctors removed the tumours from the skin cancer and brought in tissue from his forehead. 

They took a flap from his forehead and 'hinged' it down to his nose - and Peter said that if he touched his nose, he would feel it in his forehead. 

Peter is pictured lying on his hospital bed before surgery on his nose

Peter undergoes the second stage of complex surgery under the experienced eye of experts at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge

The doctors made incisions in his nose to divide the 'trunk' and create his new nose

Peter had been left with two gaping holes in his nose after damaged caused by skin cancer

Mr Ahid explained: 'Peter had quite a large skin cancer removed from his nose and one way that can be reconstructed is using tissue from the forehead that's turned down to cover the bit that's missing, and it maintains a blood supply from the forehead until such point that it picks up a new blood supply from the nose.'

Peter was first diagnosed with skin cancer after noticing a small blemish on his nose that wasn't 'totally right'. 

The tumours were removed, but he was left with two gaping holes in his face.  

However, the work by Mr Ahid's team transformed his face completely and a beaming Peter debuted his new nose at the end of the programme. 

He said: 'I'm delighted with it, and it works. I can sniff, I can blow, I can do all the other stuff you can do with noses. 

'The way I'm looking now probably exceeds my expectations if I'm to be honest. I am in total awe of what you've achieved.

He joked: 'I think I look rather better than I did before personally!

At the end of the programme Peter appears for a six-week check-up feeling much happier

'I'm really impressed I have to say. Bit of a blip in the year, but one through I've come relatively unscathed so I should be grateful for that.'

Six weeks after the life-changing surgery to rebuild his nose, Peter returned to Addenbrooke's for a check-up with a spring in his step.

Ahid said: 'I'm really pleased, you know it's the first thing that people see, it's the centre of his face. It's so important that he's happy with that'. 

Joking that he was 'no oil painting before', the joy was clear on Peter's face as he showed his gratitude to all involved in the process.

In a funny turn, one interesting thing that Peter had noticed following his surgery is that he has started having to shave his nose. 

'Ironically, the hair that comes through there is much darker than the hair on most of my head!', he laughed. 'It's a cruel twist!' 

The Face Doctors: Wednesday 15th May, 9pm, Really and available to stream on discovery+

The Face Doctors is a brand-new series following patients undergoing life-changing surgery and cutting-edge treatment to rebuild and repair their faces. 

From genetic conditions to flesh-eating infections to emergency trauma, face specialists at Addenbrookes hospital take on some of the most challenging and devastating cases. Their mission: to restore identities, mend shattered confidence and transform lives. 

The surgical team work tirelessly to help their patients, including a teenager with too many broken bones in her face to count after a car crash, a man with a deadly infection in his eye, and a woman whose nose was bitten off by a dog. 

Working alongside the surgeons is the incredible prosthetics team, who blend art with science, to create extraordinarily life-like noses, eyes, ears and more for patients in need, including an eye for a man living with a hole in his face and an ear for a schoolgirl who wants to fit in. 

The Face Doctors aired on Wednesday 15th May, 9pm, Really and available to stream on discovery+