A scan of ex reporter Martin Bell's skull after he tripped over his suitcases, incredible.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Yes, tripping over suitcases. He landed face first on a concrete floor.

A scan of ex reporter Martin Bell's skull after he tripped over his suitcases, incredible. It looks like the cover of heavy metal CD, and here is the story https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jan/09/ex-bbc-war-reporter-martin-bell-praises-surgeons-rebuilt-face?CMP=share_btn_tw …

Link to tweet

Ex-BBC reporter Martin Bell praises surgeons who rebuilt his face
Former war correspondent and politician suffered car crash-type injuries in fall at Gatwick

Caroline Davies

Wed 9 Jan 2019 10.51 EST Last modified on Wed 9 Jan 2019 14.15 EST

The former BBC war correspondent and politician Martin Bell has praised surgeons who rebuilt his face after he suffered car crash-type injuries tripping over his suitcases at Gatwick airport.

Bell, 80, fell face first on the concrete floor at Gatwick’s train ticket hall after returning from lecturing onboard a cruise liner in November.

The former journalist said he resembled “Dracula’s grandfather” after fracturing his right maxilla bone, right and left eye sockets, his nose and an area at the base of his skull. But after surgery, performed by a team led by Helen Witherow, a consultant oral and maxillofacial surgeon at St George’s hospital in Tooting, south London, he joked that he looked younger, “like I’ve had Botox”.

“It’s taken a couple of lines out, and I’m very pleased with the result,” he said.
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[area51]

1. Terrible thing to happen,

but thank goodness it was in a first world country where healthcare is a basic human right.

[sdfernando]

2. That was my 1st thought as well

can you imagine the bill if this was done at a U.S. hospital?

[dalton99a]

3. +1

[2naSalit]

4. +1

[hedda_foil]

5. Incredible! But I'm even more impressed by the fact that he didn't die of brain injuries.

The impact must have caused multiple brain bleeds and tremendous swelling. I suppose the multiple skull fractures allowed his brain to expand a bit more than would have been possible with an unbroken skull, but just keeping his brain intact must have been a major battle. And that had to have happened before any surgery was attempted.