The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1912-09-11
AS the Result of Remark
able Operation.
P|T|FUL PIECE OF HUMANITY
Who Could Hardly Walk Or
Eat Was Cured By Ad-
vanted Science.
HE Is NOW LEARNING TO TALK

A remarkable operation in skin
grating and plastic surgery, in
which a new lip was nodded on a
seven-year-old boy, who is now able
to articulate words Of one syllable
for the first time, like child learn
ing to talk, was performed at the
Polytechnic Hospital yesterday by
Dr. John II. Roberts, one of the
most noted plastic surgery opera
tors in the country. The subject of
the operation was Carl kolosky, {
years old, of Monessen, suburb of
{ Pttsburg. who has been in the hos
pital since June.
When he first arrived at the hos
pital, nearly three months ago, the
child was in a terrible condition as
the result of burns which he re-
ceived while an infant of two years
of age. The accident covered the
| chid's face and body with burns.
which were never properly treated.
! and the little BOYS chin and rip
-erew fast to- his--ehest,.--His-h head
was held down close to his body,
! distorting his body, twisting his
spine and in addition to affecting
his health generally, prevented him
from learning to talk.
In addition to these injuries.
which were thought to be perma-
nent. the child's hands were so
badly burned that when the process
of healing took place, one Of his
thumbs. in which the ligament was
burned. grew fast 10 his wrist, pre-
venting the use Of that hand. The
condition of the child was such that
several months ago a number of
charitably inclined persons took up
subscription and, learning of DR..
Roberts's success in surgery of this
kind. sent the boy on to the Poly
clinic Hospital as a patient. 1t was
probably one of the worst cases OF
! it's kind that had ever been received
at the hospital. Ii was only with
| the greatest effort that the child
| could even eat. When he walked
he could not look up and continual
! ly was forced to look downward to-
ward his feet Left alone in this
condition, he would have grown up
a misshappen bit of stunted human
! ity of no use to himself and a care
] l.; hn
DIR. Roberts, however, saw great
/ possibilities for the child, and
planned a series of operations, all
| of which were highly successful. BY
cutting away little flesh each time
at the point where the reck and his
breast had grown together, and
grating patches Of skin from
healthy parts of the child's body to
the newly exposed parts, he grad
ually severed the child's neck from
his breast, allowing the boy to raise
his head in a normal manner. The
erection of the head permitted the
child to walk in an upright man
ner and had the effect of correcting
spine curvature which in a few
years time would have become Sc
rious.
The boys lip, however, was in
terrible shape as the result of the
burns and where it had grown fast
to his breast, and il was to remedy
this that the next series of opera
tons was directed. After several
operations, covering several weeks,
new lip was nodded and grated
in the shape Of a normal lip, which
permitted the boy to talk. Although
the bov is wears old, he had never
learned to talk to any extent be-
cause he had only slight lip mo-
ton. but with a new lip nodded aud
covered with several square inches
of new skim articulation was made
possible and rapid progress was
made Philadelphia Record.