Haitian boy's tumor removed

Osly St. Preux, the Haitian boy brought to Baltimore by a Union Memorial Hospital surgeon to have a large sarcoma removed, came through yesterday's operation well and was resting comfortably last night, hospital officials said.

In a five-hour procedure, surgeons removed an enormous tumor protruding from Osly's right armpit.

The size of the wound means Osly, 13, will need surgery today to create a skin flap to cover it. A football-shaped piece of skin will be cut from the back of one of his thighs. The operation is expected to take six hours, said hospital spokeswoman Debra Schindler.

Osly's story was featured Sunday in The Baltimore Sun, and hospital officials said they have been fielding offers of donations to the family since then.

Dr. Mojtaba Gashti, chief of vascular surgery at the Baltimore hospital, met Osly and his mother on medical missions to Haiti, where Gashti donates his time and skills each spring.

Gashti said he knew he could not do the surgery there and arranged, at his expense, to bring the boy and his mother to Union Memorial, where his fellow doctors are also donating their time.