[Faline]

When Humpty Dumpty is said to have fallen off the wall, they couldn't put him together again.
But luckily it was a different story this turtle who had his shell pieced back together after it was shattered into tiny pieces.
The turtle - who has been dubbed 'Humpty Dumpty - was found with massive cracks in his shell after being hit by a motor boat propeller. There was even a crab living inside one of the cavities.
Animal rescuers at the Palm Beach Loggerhead Marine Life Centre spent 13 months putting poor Humpty back together again.



The turtle is now fit and strong enough to return back to the wild after his thick shell was repaired with teeth braces in the first procedure of its kind.
Orthodontist Alberto Vargas - who had the bizarre job of reshaping Humpty's 171-pound shell - said the sea turtle was of the strangest patients he had ever dealt with.

'I'm not aware of this ever being done on a turtle before,' Mr Vargas told the Palm Beach Post.
'We changed the shape of his shell, just like we change the shape of a patient's jaw.'
The 12-stone turtle was found in June 2010 with two large life-threatening propeller holes gouged its shell.



Worried swimmers floated the endangered green sea turtle to shore where experts from the marine life centre began to asses his life threatening wounds.
The largest gash was the size of an adult fore arm. As rescuers cleared the wound of sand they even found a live crab living in the hole.
Assessment by vets found Andre had a collapsed lung, pneumonia an exposed spinal cord and several other infections.
In another first, vets covered the wound with a black foam and clear plastic.
Humpty was also hooked up to a plastic tube that changed the pressure balance underneath the shell to promote new skin growth which was provided for free by San Antonio-based Kinetic Concepts Inc.



Mr Vargas used braces to bridge the gaping wounds, pushing and pulling the shell to promote growth.
Vets would also slowly twist a key that clicked to adjust the braces - ratcheting the torn sides closer together.
Defying all expectations, Humpty has made a full recovery and is expected to be 're-floated' out to sea in the near future.
Brittany Jo Miller, a spokeswoman for the Loggerhead Marinelife Center, said: 'The turtle has a real spirit. That's what got him through this. We'll miss him.'

[kellyhound]

hats off for the Marine life centre and orthodontist vargas.

[lilbuzzkill]

[collaredgirl65]

Very cool.

[~Z~]

Awwww

[gatagato]

They did an incredibly great job on this!

[fin_razelle]

very cool! Bless those people :)

[Zodiak]

Amazing what people can do.

[Karma]

[DollHead]

I love those people but the people with the motor boat should die