A teenager who underwent surgery at an Aomori hospital for serious head injuries he received in the Chechen war thanked his Japanese supporters Monday before his expected discharge.
"I appreciate everybody who has supported me," Imran Yunusov, 16, from Azerbaijan, said in a news conference at the Hirosaki University School of Medicine and Hospital. "I'm happy I can go home. I want to see my mother."
His skull was fractured in Russian aerial bombings in 2000 and a piece of metal was left in his head, his supporters said.
The July 27 operation was conducted to mend the hole with artificial bone. The metal piece was left in his head as it was judged to be no threat to his life.
No complications were found after the surgery and his condition is good, doctors said.
Yunusov is scheduled to leave Japan for home Friday after a visit to Tokyo.