Good Head

U.S. army surgeons donned body armor to remove a high-explosive bullet from a soldier's head during a tense five-hour operation.

Non-essential staff at Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan were evacuated during the surgery to remove the Taliban bullet, which contained two ounces of high explosives powerful enough to kill the entire surgical team.

Medics succeeded in delicately extracting it and their unnamed patient — a member of the Afghan National Army, who was injured in a bomb blast — was recovering Thursday night.

Sergeant William Carter, a member of the surgical team who performed under lockdown at the military hospital, said, "It was a real concentrated effort on everyone's behalf to ensure that we were all safe, and the patient was safe as well."

In half a century, U.S. medical teams tackled fewer than 50 cases involving the removal of deadly explosives from patients.

"This type of situation is remarkable," Carter said.