Ten Hour Operation To Rebuild An RAF Engineer’s Skull

16/12/2011

An RAF engineer sustained life threatening injuries in a three-car pile up crash in winter 2010. Malcolm Stewart, 47, from Elgin, was seriously injured in a major car crash on the A96 near Alves on 29th January 2010 and was rushed to Elgin Hospital. He was then airlifted to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary for emergency surgery.

He has since made a miracle recovery – but his lawyer says he faces a lifetime of dealing with the injuries he sustained in the crash.

Mr Stewart has made a miraculous physical rehabilitation, which required four months away from his work as an engineer at RAF Kinloss, but he still has a long journey ahead of him. Serious injury specialists at Irwin Mitchell Scotland helped Mr Stewart to access the funds he needs to secure the very best care and rehabilitation he needs to get his life back on track.

Suffering multiple facial injuries, Mr Stewart required a 10-hour craniotomy and fixation procedure to fix his skull and face with 17 metal plates. He also had problems eating as a result of losing a number of teeth and his jaw has been left permanently misaligned.

Mr Stewart spent 11 days in intensive care and a further five weeks in hospital after the emergency operations. He required another eight weeks in a rehabilitation centre and has been left with ongoing symptoms including difficulty with numbers and trouble concentrating.

Serious injury specialist, Elaine Russell, at Irwin Mitchell Scotland, praised Mr Stewart’s remarkable recovery but said he still faced continuing cognitive difficulties.

Elaine said: “Mr Stewart’s story is incredibly inspirational – he has drawn on every last shred of his physical strength and his remarkable determination to stage a recovery that has confounded medical opinion.

“He is still experiencing some issues – he is easily frustrated and can get irritated quickly, while he now struggles with numbers and has short-term memory problems. While full neurological assessments are still ongoing, these are all typical symptoms of someone with brain injuries.

“Mr Stewart’s case serves an incredibly stern cautionary tale, to anyone taking to the road this winter in dangerous conditions. In the past two winters, the whole of Scotland, and especially the north east and the Highlands, has been subjected to terrible weather conditions and we strongly urge people to think twice about driving in heavy snow if they can possibly avoid doing so.

“Mr Stewart’s recovery has been miraculous but many others are not so lucky and it seems sadly inevitable that some will not escape the Scottish winter with their lives. It may seem early to be thinking about wintery conditions, but it’s never too soon to be reminded of the devastating impact that road crashes can have on people’s lives.”
« Back to news « Back to news Back To Top