Surgeons in Israel have successfully reattached a young boy’s head after a car accident thanks to an “amazing” surgery. Suleiman Hassan, a 12-year-old Palestinian from the West Bank, was riding his bike when he was hit by a car and he suffered an “internal decapitation,” per The Times of Israel. This means that his skull detached from the top vertebrae of his spine, but his major blood vessels remained attached.
Hassan was immediately rushed to Hadassah Medical Center and rushed into surgery, where doctors saw that the boy’s head was “almost completely detached from the base of his neck.”
Dr. Ohad Einav, the lead orthopedic specialist surgeon in the operating room, said reattaching Hassan’s head took many hours and required “new plates and fixations in the damaged area.” However, he was pleased with the outcome.
“Our ability to save the child was thanks to our knowledge and the most innovative technology in the operating room,” he said. “[We] fought for the boy’s life.”
Sadly, Hassan’s projected survival rate is only 50%, so he’s still not completely out of the woods. Surgeons did wait a month before announcing the results, as the operation was performed in June. While Hassan has been released from the hospital and is in a cervical splint, his recovery will continue to be monitored.
TPS news agency said that Hassan’s father remained at his bedside through his recovery and is eternally grateful for all the staff did to save his son’s life.
“Bless you all. Thanks to you, he regained his life even when the odds were low and the danger was obvious,” the father is reported to have said. “What saved him were professionalism, technology and quick decision-making by the trauma and orthopedics team.”
Here’s hoping that Hassan makes a quick and full recovery and can get back to being a kid again.
