Jessica Cussioli took a devastating fall from a motorcycle last year, leaving a 12-centimeter-long hole in her skull.

According to the young woman, after the accident the pain was tremendous and unrelenting.

Everyday, she had “dizziness, headache, [and] malaise.”

“The discomfort I feel,” she said, “Imagine you have severe headaches every day, all the time.”

The problem was that getting a traditional implant to ease the pain was simply too expensive for Cussioli’s family to consider. So, they turned to a group of researchers in Brazil who were working to develop 3D printed titanium implants for help with the hole in her head.

Using CT scans, the team at Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), created a model of Cussioli’s skull and designed a custom-made titanium implant to cover the gaping hole.

The transplant was not only a medical success and the first of its kind ever in Brazil, it has also helped the young woman get her life back for the first time since the accident.

“I want to go shopping! Finish my study at university, go on to a new life, with a new head,” she said. “Everything is new.”

Photo Credit: Biofabris