By Emma Pearson @emma_pear
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But Zoubair Lahdodi, 18, had no idea of the danger he faced if he fell from his bike, and that the venous malformation might have ruptured causing severe bleeding.
Zoubair had suffered from the malformation since he was a small boy, due to expansion of his blood vessels, and his lips and tongue were pushed outwards.
So far, Zoubair has had two successful surgeries to remove part of his lower lip and tongue, and is expected to have further operations to cut away more of the dangerous malformation.
Now the teenager has travelled from his home in Casablanca, Morocco, to New York, for life-saving vascular plastic surgery to remove the growth and allow him to get back on his bike.
Zoubair said: “Some people laugh at me but they shouldn’t see my deformity, they should see what’s in my head.”
Aicha, Zoubair’s mother, said: “I wish I could see him in a better situation. This is what I wish from God.
“When he sees his face in the mirror he says, ‘Mama, if only it was less swollen I wouldn’t have a problem’.”
Zoubair’s father, Abderrahmane, a taxi driver, was unable to pay for his son to fly to America for the potentially life-saving surgery.
But the Waner Foundation, a charity which helps children in need of life-changing surgeries, brought Zoubair to New York to be treated by vascular plastic surgeon Dr Milton Waner and his team at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan.
Dr Waner, said: “He has a particularly severe venous malformation and unfortunately his malformation is not compatible with a normal lifespan.
“When I saw the video of him stunt cycling, I was absolutely horrified because any bump could result in a terminal haemorrhage.
“He could be very quickly overwhelmed and drown in his own blood.
“He has a high risk for bleeding, he has a high risk for spontaneous haemorrhage without me even touching him, so Zoubair is, I have to say, a walking time bomb, so we really have to get on and do his treatment.”
Before the surgeries, Zoubair struggled with eating, sleeping, speaking and even breathing, but he hopes that after treatment he will be able to live a normal life.
During the first procedure, the teenager lost a dangerous amount of blood after a blood vessel burst – leaving him in intensive care for ten days.
But despite the risks, Zoubair is grateful for the treatment he has received in America.
He said: “I never expected this. It’s overwhelming. I thank the people who brought me here.”
But more than anything, Zoubair is looking forward to getting back home and back on his beloved stunt bike.
He said “All of my friends, my family and myself will be happy when I’m back.”
Zoubair's story appears in the new series of Body Bizarre, Thursday October 1, on TLC