'He was walking dead but they saved his life': Devoted Telford dad tells of the incredible life-saving operation that saved his son, 17
The life of a Telford youngster was saved thanks to an incredible double operation and his dad is gearing up to take on a new challege to thank the medics at Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital
A Telford youngster whose nosebleeds were caused by a giant hidden tumour was saved thanks to an incredible double operation - and now his father will be taking on the London Marathon to say thank you.
Alfie Pigg, who is 17 and from Leegomery in Telford, was a completely normal and healthy teenager, but had started suffering from a blocked nose and nosebleeds during his GCSEs in 2025.
His parents, Andy and Lisa explained that while they were not frequent, they were heavy.
It turned out that the nosebleeds were coming from a large tumour - known as a Juvenile Nasopharyngeal Angiofibroma (JNA), behind his nose.
The discovery came as a major shock for Alfie and the family, who had thought he was suffering from a deviated septum.
The severity of the JNA revealed by a scan of Alfie's head meant surgeons needed to carry out a lengthy, and risky double operation at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham.
Andy said: "In effect he was walking dead. If it had ruptured at one stage he could have bled to death."
The incredible surgery and the emotional journey, both before and after, was featured on Channel Five's ‘Surgeons - matter of life or death’ documentary series, in explicit detail.
Remarkably the operation to remove the JNA was carried out with no visible scars.
After the success of the major operation - which included risks of stroke, blindness, and even death - Andy, 50, is now set to take on the London Marathon to raise money for the hospital which saved his son.
The documentary shows Alfie's remarkable calm in the lead up to the operation, and challenging moments as he faces up to the reality of what's to come, when his surgeon Shahz Ahmed explains the risks of the procedure.
The seriousness of the situation had become apparent when Alfie suffered a nosebleed after the family returned home from the pub one evening.
The youngster, who attends Telford College, passed out, leading his parents to take him to A&E.
What followed was the shocking and worrying discovery of the seriousness of Alfie's situation.
At a planned appointment where they expected to be told he had a deviated septum, they instead found he had a large, seven centimetre tumour behind his nose.
The outcome was so unexpected that Andy had been at work while Lisa attended appointment with Alfie.
Lisa explained: "Alfie just went white and they put us into a side room. I called Andy who was at work and he asked if he could call back and I said 'no, I need to speak to you now'. It just felt like someone else."
With the severity of the condition now diagnosed the family were told to take no chances, and that if Alfie were to suffer another nosebleed he would be blue-lighted to hospital in Birmingham.
Speaking on the Channel Five show Alfie's surgeon, Mr Ahmed, stressed that it would be a "life saving operation", adding: "He is at risk of dying from this procedure."
Outlining the surgery he said: "We are operating on Alfie who is 17, he has got a tumour in nose, it is just over eight centimetres by seven and a half centimetres - too big to come out of the nostril so we are going to try and deliver it out of the mouth."
Alfie's two operations took place over July 18 and 19 last year. The first operation was to cut the blood supply to the JNA, and the second was to remove the tumour itself.
Dr Ahmed added: "It is really difficult for anyone but for someone that is only 17 having major surgery that potentially is life-threatening is a major undertaking for someone so young."
The show includes a difficult and emotional goodbye as Alfie goes off for his second surgery, along with graphic and incredible shots of the operation to remove the large tumour.
After being woken up in the recovery ward Mr Ahmed checks Alfie's eyesight is working before the teenager, still barely conscious from the general anaesthetic, says: "Thank you so much."
His surgeon responds to his colleagues by saying: "What a polite young man."
For Andy and Lisa the wait to see their boy in recovery was agonising.
They had rented a room near to the hospital so they could be close by, and were walking to pass time as they waited around six hours for the surgery to be carried out.
Andy said: "They telephoned us to say that he was out and in recovery and we were just walking around Sainsbury's. We just ran there as soon as we could."
The emotional reunion was shown on the episode, as they discover that the operation has been a success.
Now, with Alfie recovering Andy is taking on the London Marathon to raise money for the hospital - specifically towards the cost of a mobile CT scanner - equipment that would have made Alfie's recovery, and the staff's task easier.
Following the operation Alfie had to be taken up two floors by staff who waited with him until he could be scanned and returned to his room.
A mobile scanner could be taken directly to patients, making their recovery more comfortable, and staff's jobs that bit easier.
Andy said they were incredibly thankful to the hospital, its staff, and everyone involved in Alfie's treatment.
He said: "They have saved his life."
He added: "All of the staff that we dealt with at Queen Elizabeth Hospital were fantastic, especially his two surgery teams, without them operating on Alf quickly, there was the potential that he could have died from his JNA – raising some money is the least that we can do to say thank you to all the staff, for the great care they showed Alf and all the others that we spoke to, and have spoken to since his surgery."
So far Andy has raised £3,000 and people can support his efforts by scanning the following QR code or visiting the webpage directly.
