Huge chunk of bloke’s skull removed and sewn into his abdomen to save his life

Don’t miss a thing by getting the Daily Star’s biggest headlines straight to your inbox!

A man survived a horrific head injury after doctors removed a huge chunk of his skull and sewed it into his stomach for five months so they could allow his brain to recover.

Restaurant worker Osman Yilmaz, 48, was struck by a car in Istanbul, Turkey, and suffered a devastating head injury forcing surgeons to remove part of his skull to release the pressure.

And in order to keep the skull alive, it was placed inside his abdomen where it could be protected and kept alive.

But despite initially looking to be on the mend his body functions deteriorated, he could not walk on his own, his swallowing weakened, and he could not even swallow his medications.

Dr Halil Olgun Peker was alerted as his condition was deteriorating at an alarming rate requiring immediate surgery for the skull to be removed from his stomach.

According to experts, sewing the bone into the abdomen is performed to keep it sterile.

Doctors were then able to reattach it to Osman's skull with titanium screws. Then they sewed his scalp back together.

The procedure is commonly used for patients with severe brain injuries.

Fortunately, the operation was a huge success, and two weeks after the surgery, Osman started to be able to walk, talk, and even make plans to return to work.

According to the news website Haberler's report, Dr Halil said that if Osman had been a few more weeks late, this surgery would not have worked, and he would have had to continue his life as a bedridden care patient.

Osman's sister, Tulay Bicer, said, "We have been observing that he has slowly returned to his old life every day since he had the surgery.

He can walk and talk again. He is a very active, hardworking person. He wants to return to his working life as soon as possible."

• 

  Woman run over and killed 'by drunk pal as she tried to stop him getting behind wheel’

• Hospital

Source: Read Full Article