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Ex-BBC reporter Martin Bell praises surgeons who rebuilt his face | Society


The former BBC war correspondent and politician Martin Bell has praised surgeons who rebuilt his face after he suffered car crash-type injuries tripping over his suitcases at Gatwick airport.

Bell, 80, fell face first on the concrete floor at Gatwick’s train ticket hall after returning from lecturing onboard a cruise liner in November.

Martin Bell in hospital after the accident.



Martin Bell in hospital after the accident

The former journalist said he resembled “Dracula’s grandfather” after fracturing his right maxilla bone, right and left eye sockets, his nose and an area at the base of his skull. But after surgery, performed by a team led by Helen Witherow, a consultant oral and maxillofacial surgeon at St George’s hospital in Tooting, south London, he joked that he looked younger, “like I’ve had Botox”.

“It’s taken a couple of lines out, and I’m very pleased with the result,” he said.

Bell, who served as an independent MP for Tatton from 1997-2001 and later became a Unicef humanitarian ambassador, covered 18 wars during his television career, including Vietnam, the Gulf war and the Bosnia conflict, during which he was wounded by shrapnel while reporting in Sarajevo. “So it’s a bit ironical. I survived all those wars and I go and crash at Gatwick airport,” he said.

Bell is superstitious about his “lucky white suit”, which he believes protected him in conflict zones, and was wearing it at the time of the accident. “I still have faith in it, absolutely. I’m sure without the suit it would have been much worse,” he said.

Pre-op CT scan image of Bell’s skull



Pre-op CT scan image of Bell’s skull

Describing the fall, he said: “It’s a bit sad. Dear me. I had two suitcases with me, so both hands were on a suitcase handle and I was in the ticket section of Gatwick’s train station. I caught my heel on one of the suitcases, went straight down, and fell flat on my face with nothing to break the fall, and with the results you can see in the photographs.

“At first I was saying: ‘It’s just a scratch.’ But my jacket was totally blood-soaked.”

He was taken to East Surrey hospital in Redhill then transferred to St George’s hospital. During the operation surgeons reattached his upper mouth to his jawbone, and used four plates and 16 screws to repair facial fractures. He also lost a tooth and broke his nose, which was manipulated back into place.

The operation took two and a half hours. “I really disgraced myself when I came out from under the anaesthetic,” he recalled. “I was convinced I had been kidnapped, and I demanded to be released. It was a couple of moments before I realised I was in the recovery ward. I’d obviously gone back to my other life.”

He had decided to share his experience, he told the Guardian, “because this lady is an absolutely brilliant surgeon, and I think sometimes the NHS can use a bit of good publicity”.

Witherow said Bell had suffered a “phenomenal amount” of damage. “Mr Bell’s injuries required specialist maxillofacial surgery, which St George’s is a centre of excellence for. The surgery involved repairing Mr Bell’s fractures using titanium plates and screws, and these remain in place permanently,” she said.

“We are pleased to hear he is so well, and so positive about his experience of the care our team provided.”

Bell, an author of several books – his latest is titled War and the Death of News – is planning to resume his travels once fully recovered. “I’m being pretty careful. And I am being especially careful at airports, especially when travelling with suitcases,” he said.



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