Muscle transplant saves boy's leg

Surgeons used back muscle to reconstruct Darryl's leg

A seven-year-old who doctors feared would lose a leg following a car accident is now walking after a pioneering operation.

Surgeons from Diana, Princess of Wales Children's Hospital in Birmingham took muscle from Darryl Noyce's back and used it to replace tissue lost in the accident.

Darryl suffered horrific injuries in a collision with a car as he crossed a road near his home in Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire, earlier this year.

We took a flap of muscle from the back. Only climbers or tennis players like Greg Rusedski really use the muscle

Hiroshi Nishikawa, surgeon

Much of the muscle in his lower right leg was severely damaged, and his family feared it would have to be amputated.

However, after five operations Darryl is back at school and expects doctors to give him the go-ahead to play football.

His mother, Helen Noyce, 32, said: "It didn't really sink in for us until the plastic surgeon told us if the operation didn't work, Darryl would lose his leg. It was then that it hit home.

'Darryl's determination'

"I was very worried, but I think Darryl's determination helped him get through this.

"The only problem we have now is stopping him from trying to run around so much because he is so energetic.

"He has had one or two nightmares about what happened, but other than that, what happened hasn't affected him."

A team of specialists at the hospital transplanted the latissimus dorsi, a muscle in the upper back which is not vital to everyday movement.

Plastic surgeons already use this flap of muscle to reconstruct breasts after mastectomy for breast cancer.

Some athletes, rock climbers and tennis players develop these muscles for their sport, but Darryl is expected to develop other back muscles to compensate.

Plastic surgeon Hiroshi Nishikawa connected the arteries of the steak-sized muscle to the vein's in Darryl's leg.

During the same operation, orthopaedic surgeon Phil Glithero fixed an external frame to Darryl's leg to ensure the fractured bones held in place.

Six weeks later, Mr Glithero carried out a second operation to insert bone grafts to replace the missing bone, followed by a skin graft.

Mr Nishikawa said: "Darryl's nerves were intact and we believed his leg was salvageable.

"We have to act quickly with a huge wound like this, because exposed bones will pick up chronic infections.

"We took a flap of muscle from the back. Only climbers or tennis players like Greg Rusedski really use the muscle and as Darryl is young, he can compensate for it."