Christopher Chessun, the Bishop of Southwark, is back serving the community after surgeons at King’s College Hospital rebuilt his face following an accident.

Bishop Christopher suffered multiple severe facial injuries when the vehicle in which he was travelling as a passenger was involved in a collision in central London.

He was initially taken by ambulance to St Thomas’ as that was the closest hospital but was transferred to King’s College Hospital – a designated Major Trauma Centre – once the nature of his injuries were understood, for definitive and specialist care.

Following extensive x-rays and scans, Bishop Christopher was found to have broken all his facial bones (13 bones) with exception of his mandible (lower jaw), as well as sustaining soft tissue injuries.

He required urgent surgery from the specialist maxillofacial team – the only surgical speciality capable of treating these complex bone and soft tissue injuries – under the leadership of Professor Kathy Fan, Consultant Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon.

In the operating theatre, Professor Fan and the team spent over eight hours rebuilding Bishop Christopher’s face. She said, “We had to expose all of the Bishop’s fractures, reduce the bones into the correct position and then use seven titanium plates and a number of screws to hold them in place, and material to reconstruct the floor of the eye socket.

“It is important for the bones to return to the correct anatomical position in order for the deformity to be corrected. If the bones are not in the correct place, there is likely to be long term facial deformity, which can impact the patient both visually and psychologically, and cause problems with speech and the ability to chew.”

The team then treated Bishop Christopher’s soft tissue injuries by removing dead skin suturing the wounds.

After a two-month period of convalescing, Bishop Christopher was back at work, serving the community and his parishes.

Talking of the accident, he said, “Although it was a significant and traumatic injury, once I was in the care of Professor Fan and her team, I received exceptional and compassionate care.

“Throughout the whole experience, I had absolute confidence and trust in the skill and expertise of Professor Fan and her team and I am also grateful to the nursing staff and for the excellent follow-up post-surgical care. I really can’t thank them enough – they not only reconstructed my face – they saved me from life-changing repercussions.”

Professor Fan added, “Accidents can happen to anyone, and we are here in the NHS to put people back together when the worst happens.

“Bishop Christopher plays a key role in society, providing spiritual and pastoral care to the people of South London and East Surrey, and we are delighted that we could enable him to return to his job with his identity intact.”