Shrapnel damage

An emergency blip as it's so late already.
This is a bit of broken brick by the front door of my mothers house. When she renovated the house in the 90's she decided against repairing this damage as it served as a reminder of WWII when it was hit by a piece of shrapnel. I expect if I were to search through the cellar I might even be able to find the actual shrapnel but I have run out of time this trip.
It is likely that I will be back soon though as today we heard that the latest of the barrage of tests my mother has undergone show that she has a large aortic anyeurism which must be removed. This is the main artery leaving the left ventricle of the heart which should be approx. 3 to 4 mm wide and in her case it's 8 - 9 mm wide for 13 cm. We don't know when she will have her operation or what exactly will be done but her doctor in the hospital she is in now suggests that this part of the artery will be replaced with something artificial - I am imagining something like bycycle tubing.... Anyway, it's a pretty common operation I'm told so am blanking my mind a bit.