When Take Your Kid to Work Day Goes Too Far
Austrian authorities are investigating a bizarre and deeply unsettling case in which a brain surgeon allegedly allowed his 13-year-old daughter to drill a hole into a patient’s skull during a critical operation. Because apparently, surgical precision and years of medical training are optional now.
The incident took place at Graz University Hospital in Styria, southeastern Austria, after a 33-year-old man was airlifted to the facility in January following a forestry accident.
According to Kronen Zeitung, he suffered severe head injuries and required emergency surgery—a procedure that, ideally, should be handled by, you know, trained medical professionals.
But instead of just observing from a safe distance, as most children might on a school field trip, the surgeon’s daughter was allegedly handed a drill and allowed to participate in the operation.
Sure, some kids bake cookies with their parents. Others, apparently, practice neurosurgery.
No Issues with the Surgery, Just… Everything Else
According to reports, the operation itself went smoothly, and there were no immediate complications. Great news, right? Well, except for the part where the patient was completely unaware that a teenager had been taking notes from Grey’s Anatomy at his expense.
Unfortunately for him, his problems didn’t end when he was stitched up. Despite the procedure’s technical success, the man is still unable to work due to ongoing issues stemming from his injuries. And, as if that weren’t enough, he now has to deal with the mental distress of knowing his skull was treated like a woodworking project.
Investigations into the entire surgical team are ongoing, with the Graz public prosecutor’s office currently reviewing the case.
Slow-Motion Accountability: Why Did It Take So Long?
While the alleged teenage brain surgery took place in January, it wasn’t until April that an anonymous complaint finally reached the public prosecutor’s office.
And because efficiency is overrated, it took another three months—until July—for police to finally notify the alleged victim that he had been an unwitting participant in what sounds like a medical ethics exam question gone horribly wrong.
Some might say that’s a pretty significant delay for something as serious as an unauthorized child performing surgery, but hey, bureaucracy moves at its own pace.
Immediate Consequences—Sort Of
The hospital eventually took action, firing the surgeon and a specialist who was present during the operation. Whether that’s enough remains up for debate, considering there’s still an ongoing investigation into how exactly this was allowed to happen in the first place.
Meanwhile, the hospital has reportedly not reached out to the patient, which, given everything else, feels like an impressively consistent commitment to bad decision-making.
The Patient Speaks Out: ‘We Were Guinea Pigs’
Understandably, the patient wasn’t exactly thrilled when he found out his neurosurgeon had taken a “bring your kid to surgery” approach to his life-threatening injury.
“You lie there. Unwilling, unconscious, and become guinea pigs. There’s probably no other way to put it… That’s not possible. You can’t do that,” said the patient’s lawyer, Peter Freiberger, in a statement to Bild.
Freiberger also emphasized that everyone present during the surgery shares responsibility for allowing this to happen, and he criticized the hospital’s complete radio silence after the scandal was exposed.
“There was no contact, no explanation, no apology—nothing. That is simply undignified,” he added.
Medical Experts Are Stunned—Because, Of Course, They Are
Even in a profession known for high-stakes decision-making, medical experts are having a hard time wrapping their heads around how something like this could happen.
Manfred Bogner, a trauma surgery specialist, seemed baffled:
- “An operating theatre belongs to people who have a job to do there and no one else.”
A fair point, considering we usually expect medical professionals—not middle schoolers—to be the ones holding surgical drills in life-or-death situations.
Bogner continued:
- “And a child should not be given a drill and allowed to drill away at the bone of a seriously injured person.”
A statement that, in an ideal world, should never need to be said out loud. And yet, here we are.
Like That Pilot Who Let His Kids Crash a Plane—Because Learning on the Job Always Works Out So Well
If this story sounds oddly familiar, that’s because history has seen eerily similar incidents of “hands-on learning” going catastrophically wrong.
Redditors quickly compared this to Aeroflot Flight 593, a 1994 aviation disaster in which a Russian pilot let his children take control of the cockpit mid-flight.
- “Like the pilot whose kids downed the plane.” – BarbaraManatee_14me
- “One of the children accidentally disengaged the autopilot, and the plane went into a dive. They managed to level the plane but overcorrected, and they stalled.”
The plane crashed, killing all 75 people on board. Just like in this Austrian case, someone in charge decided it would be fun to let their child take over an incredibly complex, life-or-death task. The results, as expected, were not great.
Fortunately, in the Austrian hospital incident, no one died—but the sheer recklessness is raising serious concerns about medical oversight and decision-making.
Will There Be Legal Consequences?
As the investigation continues, one major question remains: Will the surgeon face criminal charges?
While the firing of the two hospital employees is a start, the case is still under review, and there has been no official word on whether the surgeon will face any legal consequences.
Meanwhile, social media has, understandably, had a field day with the situation.
On Reddit’s r/nursing, medical professionals and nurses expressed absolute disbelief:
- “Where the hell were these OR scrub nurses when I was a med student? The ones I rotated with would give me the stink eye for 3 hours straight while I suctioned Bovie smoke.” – eckliptic, MD
- “How the hell does a teenager PARTICIPATE in a surgery? I’d have been on the phone so fast… risk management phone back in my pocket.” – ShadedSpaces, RN – Peds
- “I would have physically intervened and waited on admin and LEO arrival. I’ve been arrested and jailed while on duty and would prolly go again if necessary to contain something like this.” – 911RescueGoddess, RN-Paramedic
Brain surgeon ‘let her daughter, 13, drill hole into patient’s skull’
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u/adamiconography in
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Final Thoughts: This Is… A Lot
At this point, one thing is clear: if you’re ever in need of emergency surgery in Austria, maybe double-check the age of the person holding the drill first.
What happens next remains to be seen, but for now, the case raises serious questions about medical ethics, hospital oversight, and, frankly, common sense.
Would you be okay with a teenager performing part of your surgery? Let us know in the comments.
