So you’ve been in a nasty traffic accident and smashed all your face in. The good news is, doctors can sort you out a new one. The bad news? You’ve got to grow it on your forehead first.
That’s the fate that befell a man called Xiaolian hailing from China’s Fuzhou, Fujian province. Like all “proper blokes” he shrugged off some major damage to his nose and, after several months of neglect, ended up with an infection so bad as to render his actual nose useless.
It’s messed up, no doubt about that, but equally just as incredible as a medical marvel. Doctors pulled off the feat by placing a skin tissue expander on Xiaolian’s forehead, before shaping it into a nose using some cartilage from his ribs. They plan to transfer the new nose to its proper position within a few months using a similarly mind-blowing procedure, leaving Xiaolian with both the figurative and literal headache of dealing with a gaping gap on his forehead. [Metro]
Gizmodo UK is gobbling up the news in a different timezone, so check them out if you need another Giz fix. [clear]