Suleiman Hassan, a 12-year-old Palestinian from the West Bank, suffered what is known as an internal decapitation when he was hit by a car as he was riding his bike.
The injury causes the skull to become detached from the top vertebrae of the spine — and is officially known as a bilateral atlanto occipital joint dislocation.
Surgeons in Israel performed a miracle surgery and managed to reattach the boy’s head. The doctors said his head was “almost completely detached from the base of his neck.”
Dr. Ohad Einav, the orthopedic specialist who led the operation, 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,” Einav said, adding that the team “fought for the boy’s life.”
Einav and his team said that Hassan has a projected survival rate of only 50%, and his recovery is nothing short of a miracle, according to i24 News.
The operation occurred 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.
“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,” Einav said.
According to Israel’s TPS news agency, Hassan’s father did not leave his son’s bedside during the recovery process, saying he had nothing but a “big thank you” for the medical staff.
“Bless you all,” the father said. “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,” TPS reported the father as saying.
