Many people suffer bone breakages in their arms or legs. While it's an inconvenience, there is a protocol about how to treat such things, and the limb in question eventually heals back to its former glory.
However, a broken face is something far more delicate. It's also rare for not only patients, but doctors as well.
The UK's junior doctor Elizabeth Calton learned this the hard way. Elizabeth suffered a life-altering accident that left her with a face that was, as she said, "crushed backwards," plus nine broken ribs.
The magnitude of the damage was serious, and it called for a very special team of doctors to offer their expertise.
Amazingly, Elizabeth's face was able to be reconstructed back to normal thanks to the medical team. They were able to use photos of her from before the accident to guide surgeons through the "complex and labor-intensive" procedure.
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Photos: SWNS / Megan White and Nick Kituno
This photo from the junior doctor's Facebook profile is what helped doctors put Elizabeth's face back together.
As you can see, it shows what she looked like before the accident.
Elizabeth was enjoying a ride on her horse, Barney, when he became spooked by something in the woods.
The rider was forced to dismount Barney, who accidentally kicked her in the face in the process, then trampled across her upper body.
Luckily, people were nearby and called for help immediately upon realizing what was going on.
Elizabeth says, "I was incredibly lucky, both to have been discovered by passersby, but also to be brought to St. George’s, which has so many specialists in one place."
Needless to say, Elizabeth was not in good shape when she arrived at the hospital.
She had multiple facial fractures in both cheekbones, her eye sockets, nose, and upper jaw.
She says, "I had panda-eye bruising, and my face was so swollen. I was hardly recognizable."
It was eight days before Elizabeth was strong enough to be operated on, and before the surgical team could develop a plan.
Dr. Nick Hyde, the surgeon who led the operation explains, "Multiple injuries to the face such as this are rare, and the surgery Elizabeth required was complex and labor-intensive."
The only hope for Elizabeth's face to return back to its former appearance were tiny surgical screws and a team of nine surgeons.
The surgery itself took 10 hours, 42 screws, and 11 plates to complete.
It may have been a rough ride, but the results were worth it.
Elizabeth knows how lucky she was to arrive at the right hospital with her wounds:
The maxillofacial surgery we carried out was only possible thanks to the work of the ambulance team who transferred her, as well as our emergency department, cardiothoracic surgical colleagues, anesthetists and nursing and allied healthcare clinicians who were critical to her recovery at St. George’s.
Even Dr. Nick Hyde agrees that the end result was "very pleasing" for Elizabeth.
No one will blame her if she doesn't want to get back on Barney. However, the good news is that she'll be able to continue her studies to become a pediatric oncologist.
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