Beauty queen retrieves skull fragment from abdomen

By David Odongo

Former beauty queen who was injured in fishing accident has had part of her skull reattached after it was stored in her abdomen.

Jamie Hilton, a 36-year-old former Mrs. Idaho, was on a fishing trip when she fell off a cliff and hit her head.

The accident led to severe swelling in her brain, and she would have died had doctors not removed part of her skull to accommodate the swelling.

Doctors then kept ithe part f the skull removed, in her abdomen, according to posts from her blog http://jamielambhilton.blogspot.com

During the surgery, doctors had to remove upto 25 percent of Hilton’s skull and stored it under the skin in her abdomen until her brain healed.

The decision to store it inside her own body, was so that the skull would remain sterile and nourished until it could be safely reattached.

In her blog, Jamie reveals that the second surgery to remove the piece of skull from her abdomen and reattach it to her head occurred in July.

“The second surgery went as needed. They took the section of her skull (the Bone Flap) from her abdomen and were able to put it back in place again in her skull. The doctor said that the bone looked great and was in the right condition,” it read.

The blog post went on to report that the skull fragment “was put back in place again using small circular patches of titanium, as thin as paper, and some very small titanium screws. It so secure that she doesn't need to wear the helmet any more! Jamie will be so excited to hear that!”

Jamie has so far recovered and can be able to do house work.