BBC war correspondent Martin Bell had to have surgery to rebuild his face after tripping over his suitcases at Gatwick Airport.
The 80-year-old, who is famous for his trademark white suit, tripped while buying a train ticket at the airport on his return to the UK from a cruise, where he was promoting his latest book.
One of the suitcases was filled with copies of the publication, called War and the Death of News.
The former MP said he was unable to put his hands out to break his fall and ‘face planted’ into the concrete floor, fracturing his upper jawbone, both eye sockets, nose and an area at the base of his skull.
"I have come through 18 wars almost unscathed and I trip up at a railway station. I have no one else to blame for this. I feel a complete idiot," he said.
He was treated by staff at the specialist maxillofacial centre at St George’s Hospital in Tooting, south London where he underwent two-and-a-half hours of reconstructive surgery. The team later released this photo.
The operation was carried out by a team led by Helen Witherow, a consultant oral and maxillofacial surgeon.
She told the Evening Standard that Bell had suffered a ‘phenomenal amount’ of damage after the incident, in November.
Bell, who suffered nine fractures altogether, paid tribute to the NHS. He told Radio 2’s Jeremy Vine show: "It has brought home to me that a war zone can be wherever you are. I will only take one suitcase in future."
