Neurosurgeons have removed a shell fragment from the brain of a nine-year-old boy in Ukraine who was injured on New Year’s Eve by Russian mortar fire that killed his 11-year-old friend on the spot.
Victim Mykhailo Volovykov, from Kherson, was injured in the city in the final hours of 2023 and after an initial operation, he regained consciousness, but surgeons were unable to remove the fragment.
Initially, he was paralysed on his left side but after therapy, he started to regain some movement. However, the initial positive news ended after a few months when he began to experience seizures.
So doctors decided to remove the remaining fragment from Mykhailo’s brain.
Newsflash obtained a statement from the Saint Nicholas Children’s Hospital of the First Medical Union of Lviv, which operates under the Lviv City Council dated 9th May saying: “A shell fragment was removed from the brain of a 9-year-old boy.
“The neurosurgeons of the UNBROKEN KIDS Centre of the First Medical Association of Lviv successfully removed the deadly piece of metal — 8 millimetres long.
“Mykhailo Volovykov from Kherson received a severe head injury during another mortar shelling of the city.
“It just happened on New Year’s Eve – 31st December. When the attack began, the boy and his friend were having lunch in a cafe.
“The children quickly ran into the safety of a nearby office , but this did not save them – the debris pierced the walls. Shrapnel hit Mykhailikov directly in the head. And his 11-year-old friend died on the spot.
“Doctors from Kherson provided the first surgical aid to Mykhailiv, and doctors from Mykolaiv already performed an operation to remove fragments of his crushed skull.
“However, the doctors left the mortar shell fragment in the child’s brain in place – it was too deep. When Mykhailik regained consciousness, it turned out that the left part of his body was completely paralysed – his arm, leg and half of his face were immobilised.”
Despite early signs of recovery, later Mykhailo began having seizures.
The statement continued: “One of the possible causes of this consequence of war trauma in the child could be the same fragment in the brain.
“The parents decide not to wait for the splinter to lead to even worse complications, and started looking for doctors who would undertake a complex operation. They turned to the Lviv specialists of the Center for Neurosurgery and Epilepsy Surgical Treatment of St Nicholas Children’s Hospital…”
Paediatric neurosurgeon Mykhailo Lovga said: “My team and I made a difficult decision. We had to find and remove a small piece of metal 5 centimetres deep in the brain and in a very narrow area. It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack.
“And because of the dangerous area in which the fragment stopped, we could also damage important functional areas. The boy could have been completely paralysed.”
The statement continued: “Under the control of a microscope and a neuromonitoring system, our doctors were able to safely reach the part of the brain where the 8-millimetre fragment of the enemy’s shell was lodged. Neurosurgeons managed to get the fragment. During the same operation, they also covered the missing part of the skull with a titanium plate. Everything seems to have gone well.
“But Mykhailik’s relatives and doctors would only breathe a sigh of relief a few days after the operation, when the boy regaled consciousness. Now we can talk about the success of the intervention: motor functions have not deteriorated.”
Doctors said that the path to recovery would be a long one for the young boy, saying: “Mykhailik has a long recovery ahead of him.”
They added: “At the same time, the specialists of our Mental Health Centre are trying to improve the mental state of the child. After the experience, Mykhailik developed fears and anxiety: he does not speak much, shows avoidance behaviour and is afraid to leave his mother.
“And she always encourages her son with the words: ‘Now you are a titan with us like a superhero’.”
