If some still had doubts about the usefulness of the seatbelt, these terrible images should convince them once and for all. These photos were posted by an American surgeon on the site Figure 1, which allows health care professionals to present their medical cases. They show x-ray scans of the skull of a 25-year-old woman.
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Very little is known about the patient except that she was a victim of a car accident and was not wearing her seatbelt. The images frighteningly expose the dramatic consequences of the accident; the jaws of the young woman were severely affected as well as her skull which was fractured in several places, with fragments having become completely detached.
‘An examination revealed a traumatic brain injury with intracranial haemorrhage, a traumatic ocular lesion requiring enucleation and extensive facial fractures,’ said the ophthalmological surgeon on Figure 1, stating that the patient was in critical condition.
An impressive reconstructive operation
The young woman’s condition eventually became stable and she underwent eight hours of reconstructive surgery. The specialist posted a new picture showing her skull after the operation and it is nothing short of impressive. The skull can be seen as being completely reconstructed, from the jaws up to the eye sockets.
The post elicited many comments and praise congratulating the medical team for the work they did. ‘I saw the patient at the clinic today, she is very depressed, but it is remarkable to see how well she is recovering, she is fully awake, stable and she is walking,’ said the surgeon.
Although she had lost her left eye, she is doing well according to the latest comments and had been transferred to the outpatient department. She will soon receive a prosthesis to replace her missing eye. This medical case actually dates back to 2015 but has recently resurfaced on the platform Reddit, attracting the attention of Internet users.
