Graphic Video Shows Brave Surgeons Removing Live Grenade From Soldier’s Face

This graphic video shows a group of brave surgeons removing a live grenade from a soldier’s face.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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A group of brave doctors risked their own lives recently to save the life of a solider with a live grenade lodged in his face as a camera captured the amazing surgical feat in action. Colombian surgeons at Bogota's Central Military Hospital very (very) carefully removed the "cellphone-sized" M-40 grenade from Leandro Luna's right cheek, Fusionreports. The procedure has been hailed as one of the most frightening, though undeniably impressive, moments in medical history.

Private Luna, 20, took an eight-hour ambulance ride to the hospital early Sunday, June 5 after being seriously injured when another solider accidentally fired off a grenade launcher in his direction. Though Luna's cheek bones were crushed and he lost a few teeth, the grenade somehow managed to not explode.

"The cuts and pressure we had to apply to remove the artifact had to be very precise," William Sanchez, chief surgeon, told El Tiempo following the procedure. "It was a decisive five minutes where any small mistake would've been fatal."

WARNING: GRAPHIC VIDEO.

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Due to the high-risk nature of the procedure, doctors were forced to set up shop in the parking lot of the hospital. After applying anesthesia and cutting a hole in Luna's throat to ease his breathing, surgeons used a pair of tweezers to remove the grenade and then pass it to the local bomb squad.

Doctors say Luna's recovery process is going well, though he will require a series of reconstructive surgeries to repair the areas of his face damaged by the grenade.

"We think he will have a perfect recovery process," Dr. Sanchez said.

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