A 12-year-old boy who knocked his head during a football match had part of his skull preserved in his stomach as doctors operated on a life-threatening infection in his brain.

Lewis Smith thought he was concussed when, two weeks after a match with friends, his headache was only getting worse.

But half-way through a family holiday in Cornwall, the pain was crippling, his forehead swelled, and his parents rushed him to hospital.

To their horror, doctors discovered his brain was swelling up with a severe sinus infection.

Lewis was rushed into the theatre for an emergency six-hour operation to open his skull and remove the disease.

And in a bid to avoid any risk of worsening, they kept the severed bone clean by depositing it in his stomach.

It meant his brain was able to swell without pressurising the skull, which would have rendered him unconscious.

The bone remained in his stomach for two months before eventually being replaced the day before his 13th birthday.

His mother, Nicki, 44, said: ‘It was so scary.

‘We were none the wiser about Lewis’ condition until we set off on holiday and I noticed his forehead had started to swell up.

‘He had suffered a knock on the head playing football a couple of weeks before, so we thought it might have been related to that.

‘When it began to cover his right eye, giving him ongoing headaches, we visited two hospitals but both indicated it might be mild concussion.

‘It was all such a sudden shock to us. One moment we were on holiday, the next our son was being taken into an operating theatre – it was a complete nightmare.’

Lewis first developed a temperature and headache while on holiday with his family in Cornwall in August.

Concerned, his parents Nicki and Danny, also 44, cut the holiday short and returned home.

For fear of worsening the infection, doctors did not want to replace his skull with titanium after opened it up. So they deposited the severed bone in his stomach for two months before putting it back in

They took Lewis to the Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth, Hampshire, for a CT scan.

Doctors discovered it was not concussion but a severe sinus infection, which was spreading across his brain and eyes.

He was immediately taken to nearby Southampton Children’s Hospital for surgery.

Lewis was suffering from common sinusitis – inflammation of small cavities behind the cheekbone and forehead.

In most cases it can be cleared with over-the-counter medication or antibiotics.

The 12-year-old was showing signs of fever and sepsis as well as swelling of the brain.

Advanced paediatric neurosurgical nurse practitioner Chrissy Ward said: ‘When anyone has an infection to the brain it is very serious.

‘The antibiotics must be strong enough to penetrate the blood brain barrier and kill it off.

‘But, in addition to treating Lewis’s infection, we had to contend with the swelling on his brain.

‘We couldn’t risk the possibility of raised pressure in his skull as it would cause him to become unconscious.

‘Therefore, the neurosurgeons had to perform a craniectomy – removal of a section of the skull – to allow his brain to swell without pressurising the skull.

‘They then cut open the stomach, clean up the bone to remove any infection and put it into the subcuaneous abdominal tissue, where the bone is preserved.

‘They have to either do that with the bone or throw it away and replace it with titanium.

He was on holiday in Cornwall when his parents took him hospital, where he was rushed into six-hour surgery

‘Replacing it with bone is more preferable and there is less risk of infection.’

Lewis had the bone replaced the day before his 13th birthday in November.

The youngster must now wait for the removed piece of bone and the rest of his skull to completely fuse together.

But it means no contact sports for the teenager, who plays football and rugby, until the new year.

Nicki said: ‘He is sports mad and is itching to get back to football again.

‘We just have to keep reminding him that he isn’t quite ready yet.

‘But he should be able to join for the new season in September.

‘He can’t wait.’

The family have since raised 1,615 pounds for the hospital through fundraising events, including a sponsored football match.

Mrs Smith said: ‘This has been a real rollercoaster for the family and a very long recovery for Lewis.

‘But he’s doing really well and we are so grateful to the teams at both hospitals for what they did for him.’

Mr Aabir Chakraborty, a consultant paediatric neurosurgeon at Southampton Children’s Hospital, added: ‘Sinusitis with secondary infection in the brain is a life-threatening condition that requires swift treatment.

‘Lewis received this swift treatment from a number of specialist teams, including children’s neurosurgery, ear, nose and throat and infectious diseases, and I am delighted he has made such a good recovery.’

Read more: Daily Mail