He remote controls his potty

14 November,2009 07:26 AM IST |   |  Agencies

Ged Galvin was fitted with a 'Bionic Bottom' after he suffered massive internal injuries in 2005 accident


Ged Galvin was fitted with a 'Bionic Bottom' after he suffered massive internal injuries in 2005 accident

A man whose bowel was ruined in a motorbike crash is able to use a remote control to go to the toilet after doctors fitted him with a "bionic bottom".

Ged Galvin (55) was given just hours to live by doctors after he was "'ripped in half" by his motorcycle fuel tank when a car suddenly pulled out in front of him.

He suffered internal injuries and had to be fitted with a colostomy bag until surgeons performed a complex operation to rebuild his bowel.

They took a muscle from above his knee, wrapped it around his sphincter and attached electrodes to the nerves, which are operated by remote control.

Look: Ged Galvin has been fitted with a colostomy bag, which is operated by using this remote

Miracle


He carries the palm-sized device in his pocket and simply presses a button to open his bowels and go to the toilet.

Galvin, an IT project manager, said, "When I want to go to the loo, I use the remote control. It's like a chubby little mobile phone.

"They call me the man with the bionic bottom, but that doesn't bother me. My gratitude to the surgeons is endless because what they have done is a miracle."

The accident happened in 2005. He suffered a detached retina in both eyes, a fractured pelvis and vertebrae, and broke his left foot, right leg, two wrists, and an ankle.

Doctors expected him to die so his brother, a priest, gave him the last rites as his wife and two children staged a vigil by his bedside.

Recovery

However, he recovered after 13 weeks in hospital and 13 operations. But two operations to fix his sphincter muscles and control his bowel movements failed.

He was fitted with a colostomy bag which collects waste from an opening in the abdomen which doctors said he would have for life.

The muscles in his bionic bottom will now need to be replaced once every five years.

13
The number of operations Ged Galvin had to undergo after 2005 accident
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Ged Galvin colostomy bag remote