Surgeons in Israel performed miracle surgery and managed to reattach the head of a boy after he was hit by a car while riding a bicycle, the Jerusalem hospital announced this week.
Suleiman Hassan, a 12-year-old Palestinian from the West Bank, suffered what is known as internal decapitation, with his skull detaching from the upper vertebrae of his spine – officially known as bilateral Atlantic occipital joint dislocation, according to The Times of Israel.
He was riding his bike when a car hit him. The boy was taken to Hadassah Medical Center and immediately operated on in the trauma ward. Doctors said his head was “almost completely severed from the base of his neck.”
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dr Ohad Einav, the orthopedist who led the operation, said the procedure took several hours and doctors had to use “new plates and fixations in the damaged area”.
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dr Ohad Einav and Ziv Asa with 12-year-old Suleiman Hassan, center, at Hadassah Medical Center after Suleiman’s recovery. (Hadassah Medical Center spokesperson)
“Our ability to save the child was due to our knowledge and the most innovative technology in the operating room,” Einav said, adding that the team “fought for the boy’s life.”
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Einav and his team said Hassan has an estimated survival rate of just 50% and that his recovery is a miracle, according to i24 News.
The operation took place in June, but doctors waited a month to announce the results. The hospital recently discharged Hassan with a cervical splint and will continue to monitor his recovery.
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The sun shines on Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem. (Christophe Gateau/Picture Alliance via Getty Images)
“The fact that such a child has no neurological deficits or sensory or motor disorders and that after such a long process he is functioning normally and walking unaided is no small matter,” Einav said.
According to Israeli news agency TPS, Hassan’s father did not leave his son’s bed during the recovery process, saying he only offered a “big thank you” to the medical staff.
“God bless you all,” said the father. “Thanks to you, he regained his life even when the odds were slim and the danger was obvious.”
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“What saved him was the professionalism, technology and quick decisions of the trauma and orthopedic team,” TPS reported of the father.
dr Marc Siegel, clinical professor of medicine and practicing internist at NYU Langone Medical Center and a Fox News contributor, told Fox News Digital that the “amazing” surgery was only possible if the major blood vessels remained intact.
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“The key is maintaining blood flow to the brain,” Siegel said. “History suggests that the major blood vessels were probably not severed and that this required orthopedic reconstruction — likely using rods and reattachment of ligaments, and possibly bone grafts and implants.”
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Einav stressed that the surgery is “extremely rare” but the size of a child’s head compared to an adult means they are “more vulnerable”.
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“This is not a common operation at all, especially not in children and adolescents. A surgeon needs knowledge and experience to do this,” he said.