Two years ago, Private Shamika Burrage survived a severe car accident in Texas. In addition to spine and head injuries, she also lost her left ear. The 21-year-old underwent a cutting-edge operation in which doctors sewed an ear into her forearm. In this way, the organ is supposed to regenerate and wait for a re-transplant.
- Shamika Burrage lost her left ear in a car accident in 2016
- Using a recently developed technique, Texas plastic surgeons reconstructed the damaged hearing organ
- The ear was sewn into the Burrage’s forearm
In 2016, 21-year-old Shamika Burrage was returning by car from her family with her cousin. Suddenly, the tire burst, the car overturned, and as a result of the high impact force, Shamik fell out of the vehicle. The accident, which she barely survived, severely injured her head and spine. The woman also lost her left ear. The cousin who was in the car suffered only minor injuries. Doctors later told Burrage that if she had received medical attention 30 minutes later, she might not have survived.
Doctors from the hospital in El Paso performed a complicated procedure, described as “the first of its kind in the army”. They reconstructed the damaged hearing organ. They took cartilage from the victim’s ribs and carved an ear that was placed under the skin on her forearm. Before sewing the ear under the patient’s skin, the tissue had to be properly expanded so that the organ could grow freely there.
“I didn’t want to undergo a reconstruction, but I thought it over and figured it was a good solution,” she said.
“The ear will have fresh arteries, fresh veins, and even fresh nerves for her to feel them,” said Lt. Col. Owen Johnson III, head of plastic and reconstructive surgery at WBAMC.
Despite the initial hesitation and numerous treatments, Burrage said she was happy about her decision.
The ear was later transplanted into the Burrage’s head by surgeons at the Army Medical Center. William Beaumont in El Paso. The operation was successful and the patient regained her hearing.
There have also been at least two instances where doctors have performed similar surgeries to what Burrage has undergone. In 2012, an ear was grown in the arm of a woman who had lost this organ as a result of cancer. A few years later, such an operation was also carried out in China.
Prepared on the basis of: washingtonpost.com / dailymail.co.uk / direct.pl