Israeli surgeons at Hadassah Medical Center-Ein Kerem performed a miracle surgery and successfully reattached a boy’s head after a car accident in which he was hit while riding his bike.
Suleiman Hassan, a 12-year-old Palestinian boy, suffered from an internal decapitation, officially known as bilateral atlanto occipital joint dislocation. The ligaments holding the base of his skull were severely damaged, leaving it detached from the top vertebrae of his spine, according to the Times of Israel.
It is extremely rare among adults, let alone children.
He was airlifted to the medical center and rushed to the trauma unit. Dr. Ohad Einav led the operation with a survival rate of about 50 percent.
“The worst of Suleiman’s injuries from the crash was a fracture in the internal connection between his head and neck, along with tearing of all the supporting ligaments,” said orthopedic surgeons Dr. Ohad Einav and Dr. Ziv Asa in an Instagram post.
“Due to the serious injury, the head almost completely detached from the base of the neck,” said Dr. Einav.
He said the procedure took several hours and required the doctors to use “new plates and fixations in the damaged area.”
“Our ability to save the child was thanks to our knowledge and the most innovative technology in the operating room,” Dr. Einav said, adding that the team “fought for the boy’s life.”
Suleiman was recently discharged home wearing a cervical splint. Doctors will continue to monitor his recovery and expect him to make a full recovery.
“The fact that such a child has no neurological deficits or sensory or motor dysfunction, and that he is functioning normally and walking without an aid after such a long process, is no small thing,” Dr. Einav said.
He said performing this operation on adults as part of his training in Toronto prepared him to operate on Suleiman.
“This is not a common surgery at all, and especially not on children and teens. A surgeon needs knowledge and experience to do this,” he said.
According to the hospital, Suleiman’s father stayed by his side the entire time he was recovering from surgery.
“Bless you all,” Suleiman’s father said to the medical staff as they left the hospital. “I will thank you all my life for saving my dear only son. Thanks to you he regained his life even when the odds were low and the danger was obvious. What saved him were professionalism, technology, and quick decision-making by the trauma and orthopedics team. All I can say is a big thank you.”
