Surgeons at a Jerusalem hospital successfully managed to reattach a young cyclist’s head to his neck, after the 12-year-old suffered an “internal decapitation” when he was hit by a motorist while riding his bike.

Suleiman Hassan, a Palestinian from the West Bank, was airlifted following the collision to the Hadassah hospital’s trauma unit in Ein Kerem, just outside Jerusalem, where it was determined that the sudden impact had severely damaged the ligaments and muscle holding the base of his skull, leaving it detached from the top vertebrae of his spine (though the skin and major blood vessels remained intact).

The injury, commonly known as internal or orthopaedic decapitation, is extremely rare, while survival rates are low. A 2021 study into the injury in children and adolescents found that 55 percent of sufferers do not survive the initial impact, transport to hospital, surgery, or recovery.

> Hit-and-run driver ran red light "at speed" and hit 10-year-old cyclist, avoids jail

12-year-old Suleiman underwent several hours of highly complex surgery in early June, with doctors fusing the base of his skull to the spinal column, using screws, rods, plates, and potentially bone grafts.

He was recently discharged from hospital and will continue to be monitored by staff in the coming months, the Times of Israel reports (link is external).

“We fought for the boy’s life,” Dr Ohad Einav, an orthopaedic specialist who carried out the procedure, told the newspaper. “The procedure itself is very complicated and took several hours. The injury is extremely rare, but we do know that because children between ages four and 10 have heads that are large in relation to their bodies, they are more susceptible than adults.

“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.”

> Student cycling to school knocked off bike after being hit by parent driving a car, suffers minor injuries

Following the successful surgery, Suleiman’s father told the hospital’s medical staff: “I will thank you all my life for saving my dear only son. Bless you all. 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 orthopaedics team. All I can say is a big thank you.”

https://road.cc/content/news/surgeons-reattach-boys-head-after-he-was-hit-car-302555