A man in Michigan who suffered from a rare kind of cancer and lost half of his face to the disease is receiving a second shot at life due to a surgeon who is assisting him in rebuilding his features using skin taken from his leg and forearm.

Tim McGrath is speaking out for the first time about his three-year fight in an exclusive interview with PEOPLE. He also explains why he is happy that his story has gone viral.

After McGrath complained of jaw discomfort in February 2014, he saw his primary doctor who made the first diagnosis of synovial sarcoma.

McGrath continues, “I had a biopsy, and due to the unusual nature of the sample, it was sent to a specialized lab for analysis.” It was first hypothesized that it was a tumor of the pituitary gland, which are typically of a benign nature. I’m sorry to report that I have some unpleasant news.”

The Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative reports that rarely 1-3 out of every million persons are diagnosed with the illness each year. Sarcoma is a kind of cancer that affects soft tissues and most often manifests itself in the legs or neck.

After understanding how invasive the process would be to remove it, McGrath first sought for non-surgical remedies as an alternative to having it removed.

According to McGrath, “I despised hospitals and I was very health conscious prior to receiving the diagnosis.” “I felt I had the discipline to seek other modalities.”

The naturopathic therapies that McGrath elected to use included, among other things, a stringent diet, a supplement program, energy therapy, and psychological counseling. However, over the course of the subsequent 18 months, the tumor continued to expand, and by the middle of May 2015, McGrath was compelled to have a tracheotomy and a feeding tube inserted.