A Bakersfield man will finally get the surgery he needs for his injured skull. A local doctor will do the surgery -- for free -- after seeing Lee Lyle's story on an Eyewitness News investigation. Part of the man's skull bone has been kept in his abdomen for a year.

Dr. Vip Dev met with Lyle Monday afternoon, and said the surgery will be scheduled as soon as possible. "What we're going to do is go in and we're going to replace that bone," Dr. Dev said. The surgeon said the bone should still be in good shape to be returned to Lyle's head.

Lyle said he's relieved to finally be getting some help. "I'm actually excited," Lyle said Monday afternoon. "But I have to stay calm because this is going to be a major thing. This is going to be the biggest day of my life just about."

The bone was removed after Lyle was in a serious motorcycle accident last April. The hit and run accident happened at Niles and Miller Streets, and sent Lyle flying from his motorcycle, landing head-first on the curb.

Lyle had a helmet on, but he suffered a skull fracture. Because of massive bleeding and swelling in the brain, doctors had to remove part of the skull. Lyle can still knock on his stomach and feel the bone placed there for safe-keeping.

But, it's been a battle to get the next surgery to have it returned to his head. Lyle said he faced red tape with Kern Medical Center, and could not get the surgery done.

Eyewitness News investigated the situation, which is how Dr. Dev heard about Lyle's situation. "We came across it, and my office was able to contact the gentleman," Dr. Dev explained. The surgeon said he had also worked with a resident from KMC who knew about the case.

Eyewitness News called KMC on Monday, but no one was available for comment.

Dr. Dev said a neurosurgeon may also donate his time for Lyle's operation, and Memorial Hospital will try to waive their fees.

Lyle is ecstatic that he'll finally get the surgery. "I'm so relieved. Finally there's light at the end of the tunnel. We've been fighting a long battle for a year, and now it's all going to get done, it looks like."

Dr. Dev said there was no damage done to the skull bone over the time it's been in Lyle's belly, but there has been some risk to Lyle because the bone hasn't been in place to protect his head.

Lyle agrees with that, and said he had a recent close call when he was home alone. Lyle said he was unloading the dishwasher and bumped his head on a cabinet. "I grabbed some dishes, stood up, and I hit my head on the corner of the cabinet door right here," Lyle said pointing to the upper edge of the dent in his head. "It put me on my knees. And if I had hit right here (where the skull bone is missing) we probably wouldn't even be talking right now."

Lyle said he has been bitter about waiting so long to have the final surgery done. He's also worried about the financial impacts. Lyle said the condition has made it impossible for him to be hired, and his disability benefits have just run out. The surgery by Dr. Dev will come just in time.

Dr. Dev said he thinks helping Lyle is simply the right thing to do. "I know that we have the ability to fix it. And so I think -- if we have the ability, then we have the responsibility"