Surgeons rebuild tiger victim's face

BRITISH SURGEONS have worked unpaid to rebuild the face of a man who was dragged from his bed and savaged by a Bengal tiger as a toddler in Bangladesh.

Doctors from St Mary's Hospital in Bristol operated for more than 20 hours on Alom Shah Khan, 18, who had large parts of his face torn off when he was attacked at 18 months old. Surgeons in Bangladesh had been reconstructing his face for more than 13 years, but he was left with no lips or nose.

"He was discovered begging by an aid worker who made it his mission to help him," the hospital manager, Allen John, said.

Mr Khan flew to Britain in May, and a consultant plastic surgeon, Ron Hiles, began a series of operations. Mr Khan had 20 hours of surgery and spent 23 days in hospital. His final operation last week was his 28th time under the knife.

Cartilage from one of his ribs was used to shape the bridge of his nose, and a skin graft was taken from his upper arm.