Sarah BrealeyA relaxing holiday on the Norfolk Broads turned into near-death experience for one man who had to have half his face reconstructed after a freak accident.Sarah Brealey

A relaxing holiday on the Norfolk Broads turned into near-death experience for one man who had to have half his face reconstructed after a freak accident.

Father-of-four Craig Decent had his left eye smashed and bones on his face broken as he operated a winch on the sunroof of a motor cruiser.

The 49-year-old was airlifted to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and within hours he was undergoing some of the most radical medical work attempted in the UK.

Mr Decent's injuries were so severe - with the bones around his eyes completely shattered - surgeons had to make an incision on the top of his head and then peel back the flesh from his face in order to work on his eye socket and cheekbone.

Mr Decent, who lives in Calvert in Buckinghamshire, was with his family on the boat when the accident happened in 2000. He said: 'It was a glorious day and I was attempting to open the sunroof using a winch to make the most of the sunshine.

'As I attempted to wind back the roof it suddenly came hurtling back towards me at great speed. Before I could move out of the way it trapped my head and smashed it against the winch which I had been trying to operate.'

The accident immediately caused his eye to explode, causing massive blood loss. Fortunately a woman passing the boat called an ambulance.

A team of surgeons led by Bijan Beigi, a consultant eye surgeon, attempted to save his eye but it was so damaged it later had to be replaced with an artificial one.

Mr Beigi said: 'We thought we could save the part of Craig's face that had been crushed, even though it was in a terrible state.

'The accident had annihilated significant parts of it and reconstruction was essential. His injuries were going to take hours to repair and we needed to have the best possible vantage point from which to operate.'

He said after careful consultation it was decided to peel back the skin of Craig's face, which is dangerous 'every step of the way'.

Mr Beigi said: 'It might sound relatively straightforward but there are muscles and nerves beneath the skin which need taking into account.

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'Unless the operation was done perfectly there was a risk of paralysis on at least a part of his face and also the danger of infection and lasting scarring.'

The operation needed a huge team of surgeons, began with an incision from ear to ear across the skull and was followed by the delicate peeling-back of his face, leaving the bones beneath exposed for reconstruction.

Mr Beigi said: 'It was like peeling a banana, which is a reasonable analogy but it was obviously a much more difficult process and frankly, a bit weird too.'

The team used pins, plates, screws and wire mesh to reconstruct the shattered eye socket and cheekbone before the facial skin was lowered back into place and stapled back on to Craig's skull in order to allow the long healing process to begin.

One false move or a 'millimetre of inaccuracy' could have resulted in a wide range of problems for Mr Decent, including loss of hair to paralysis.

Fortunately, the operation was a total success and Mr Decent (pictured) barely shows any physical signs of his injuries or the pioneering operation he endured. He said: 'Mr Beigi and his team performed a miracle for which I will always be grateful,' he said. 'Without their skill and application I would probably have suffered permanent disfigurement.'

t Mr Decent's story will be told on Monday as part of a new series of Bizarre ER on BBC3 at 10.30pm.