Surgeons perform operation to remove GRENADE from soldier’s FACE in hospital car park
Medics delicately free the explosive as they risk life and limb to save the man's life in Colombian capital Bogota
DOCTORS carried out life-saving surgery to remove a GRENADE from the face of a soldier who was blasted with a rocket.
Medics performed the delicate operation in the car park of a Colombian hospital fearing the device may go off at any minute as they risked life and limb to save patient Luis Eduardo Perez's life.
After hours of careful surgery, they were able to extract the explosive from his face and save the man's life
The chief of surgery, William Sanchez, said: "It was a decisive moment, logically one of stress and uncertainty, but there was no other option than to push on to save the life of the patient, even praying and asking God not to let a bigger tragedy happen."
It is believed the grenade became lodged in his skull after a rocket launcher was misused by troops.
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During the delicate surgery, the man can be seeing surrounded by surgeons in the Bogota hospital's car park as they attempt to dislodge the explosive from his head.
The unnamed man is now out of danger and is recovering in hospital.
Dr Sanchez added: "We now have an established protocol.
"We logically did it outside the hospital, because if it were to activate it, it needed to be somewhere it would have the least impact."
Grisly X-rays reveal the grenade was almost completely embedded inside the soldier's head.
An investigation is under way to find out the cause of the accident.
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