12-year-old boy’s head re-attached in ‘miracle’ operation in Israel

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It’s not everyday that surgeons re-attach someone’s head.

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But that bit of miracle surgery was performed recently at a Jerusalem hospital after a 12-year-old Palestinian boy from the West Bank was hit by a car, reports FOX News.

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The Times of Israel says Suleiman Hassan suffered an internal decapitation meaning his skull was detached from the top vertebrae of his spine.

Hassan was rushed to Hadassah Medical Center and immediately put into surgery in the trauma unit where the doctors said his head was “almost completely detached from the base of his neck.”

The operation took several hours and according to Dr. Ohad Einav, the orthopedic specialist who led the surgery, 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.

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Einav told i24 News that Hassan has a projected survival rate of only 50% and his recovery is pretty much a miracle.

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The operation actually happened in June but doctors waited a month to announce the outcome and only recently discharged Hassan with a cervical splint.

“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.

Dr. Marc Siegel, a Fox News contributor, said the “amazing” surgery was only possible if major blood vessels remained intact and blood flow remained to the brain.

“It sounds like from the story that the major blood vessels were likely not severed and that this involved an orthopedic rebuilding,” said Siegel.