Whole again... the man left with half a head after fall

 
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10 April 2012

Doctors have rebuilt a man's face using injections of fat from his stomach.

Tim Barter, 32, shattered his skull and was left with a large dent in his forehead after falling from a drainpipe.

Surgeons at King's College Hospital used body fat to repair his temple in the first procedure of its kind in Britain.

The operation was carried out by consultant Robert Bentley. The cranio-oral and maxillofacial surgeon pioneered the technique to improve the outcome of facial injuries.

He also used computer technology to design titanium plates to repair Mr Barter's smashed skull.

The visual effects supervisor, who worked on Dr Who, has now made a full recovery from the accident in June 2009. He has taken up rock climbing, kayaking, fencing and sky-diving.

He said: "Life stopped for a number of months. I couldn't work and I had double vision. I was frightened that my eyesight would never go back to normal and that I would have to give up my job for good.

"I'm making the most of everything now where I didn't before." Mr Barter, of Brixton, spent weeks at King's after his fall which happened after he lost his house keys and tried to get into his house via a drainpipe.

But the pipe collapsed under his weight and he plummeted 25 feet hitting a brick wall on his way down.

Neighbours found him unconscious and called an ambulance. He was taken to the major trauma centre at King's College Hospital where he spent 10 days in a coma.

Doctors discovered his leg was broken and his eye socket were shattered along with his cheekbone.
They had to remove part of his skull on the right hand side of his head to relieve the swelling and bleed on his brain.

Titanium plates were used for his skull and also used to reshape his shattered eye socket and keep the bone together.

These were inserted via the inside of Mr Barter's cheek to cause minimal scarring. After his discharge, Mr Barter was given a white hard hat similar to a builder's which he wore to protect his head outdoors.

Mr Bentley said: "Patients having sustained such injuries as Tim's highlight the fully integrated approach that we have as a major trauma centre.

"This ensures that our patients receive the best treatment in the most appropriate settings and by the most appropriate individuals."

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