SEATTLE — A 17-year-old Seattle teen is recovering from broken bones, a collapsed lung and second- and third-degree burns from a horrific crash in October.
And earlier this week, a surgeon from the Harborview Burn Center performed an operation to temporarily tuck and sew Andy Sommer’s burned right hand into an opening in his belly.
The director of the burn center, Dr. Nicole Gibran, explained the procedure.
“By tucking his fingers into that pocket, we are able to get some growth of healthy tissue,” Gibran said.
Sommer says he owes his life to the off-duty firefighter who rescued him.
Recalling the crash, he says he regained consciousness a few seconds after a semi-truck rear-ended his Jeep. The impact pushed Sommer’s Jeep into oncoming traffic, where it collided with another car and caught fire.
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