A young boy from Kyrgyzstan who suffered severe injuries, including an exposed skull, after being attacked by three large dogs has successfully received treatment in South Korea and returned to his home country.

Asan Medical Center announced today (October 21) that a medical team led by Professor Choi Jong-woo of the Department of Plastic Surgery invited 6-year-old Umar to South Korea and successfully treated him.

In April, while playing at a neighbor's house and returning home by crossing a fence, Umar lost his balance and fell into the yard of an adjacent house.

At that moment, large dogs attacked him, leaving him with severe injuries that destroyed about 80 percent of his scalp—measuring 25 centimeters by 25 centimeters—and fractured his skull.

Umar was rushed to a nearby hospital, but the medical staff explained that they had never seen such a case before and could only provide antibiotic treatment to prevent infection, unable to do much else.

Umar's family circumstances were also dire, living on a pension equivalent to about 300,000 won per month with no fixed income.

Amid this situation, local medical staff sought help from Asan Medical Center medical personnel who were visiting Kyrgyzstan to share medical technology. Recognizing that the case would require high-complexity surgery, the Asan team decided to arrange for Umar to be transported to South Korea.

Upon arriving in South Korea in July, Umar visited Asan Medical Center for a comprehensive examination.

Initially, the medical team considered transplanting skin tissue from another part of his body to the scalp. However, considering that hair would never grow on that transplanted area for the rest of his life, they instead chose a combination of a skin graft and a tissue expansion procedure, which involves gradually stretching the remaining scalp to cover the defect.

By gradually expanding the scalp, they successfully completed the surgery to cover the exposed skull in late September. The full cost of treatment was covered by the Asan Foundation and Asan Medical Center.

Professor Choi Jong-woo shared, "I hope Umar, who remained bright and resilient throughout the difficult treatment process, will grow up healthy." Umar responded, "When I go back to school, I will study hard and read lots of books. Thank you to the doctors who treated me."

Umar, who rode an airplane for the first time to receive treatment in South Korea, returned to his home country on October 15, holding onto a dream of becoming a pilot.

(Photo provided by Asan Medical Center, Yonhap News)