‘Horrific’ bike accident internally decapitated 12-year-old. How doctors saved him
Doctors and surgeons in Israel have given a 12-year-old Palestinian boy a second chance at life after a bicycle accident left him “internally decapitated,” the hospital announced.
Suleiman Hassan was riding his bike near his home in the West Bank when he was hit by a car in what doctors described as a ”horrific” accident, Hadassah Hospital said in a July 7 release.
Hassan was airlifted after the June accident to Hadassah’s trauma unit in Ein Kerem, Israel, where doctors discovered he had an incredibly rare injury.
The ligaments that attach the bottom of his skull to the top of his spine had become severed, meaning there was nothing holding his head on to the rest of his body, the doctors said.
The condition is called bilateral atlanto occipital joint dislocation, more commonly known as internal or orthopedic decapitation.
“The injury is extremely rare, but we do know that because children between ages 4 and 10 have heads that are large in relation to their bodies, they are more susceptible than adults,” lead surgeon Ohad Einav told The Times of Israel.
Einav completed a surgical fellowship in Toronto and had recently returned to Israel, the hospital said, and during the fellowship he had performed surgery on adults with the same injury.
After arriving at the hospital, Hassan went into surgery almost immediately, as the doctors battled against time to save his life.
In a 2021 survey, 55% of children did not survive the injury, transport to hospital, surgery and recovery, The Times of Israel reported.
“The procedure itself is very complicated and took several hours. While in the operating room, we used new plates and fixations in the damaged area,” Einav told the news outlet. “Our ability to save the child was thanks to our knowledge and the most innovative technology in the operating room.”
During the surgery, the ligaments were reattached, and Hassan was carefully monitored.
A cervical splint, a kind of brace that keeps the neck and head perfectly still, was placed on Hassan, and shortly after he was discharged to be monitored from home, the hospital said.
“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 told The Times of Israel.
Hadassah’s trauma unit is located in Ein Kerem, a neighborhood of Jerusalem.
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