A 16- month old baby's head was successfully re- attached to its spine after it got internally decapitated due to vehicular accident.
According to nbcnews.com, the accident happened while Jaxon Taylor, 16- month old baby, was in fast- moving car with his 9 year old sister and their mother when they got hit by another car in northern New South Wales.
Rylea Taylor, mother of Jaxon, said "The second I pulled him out, I knew that he - I knew that his neck was broken."
The child spinal surgeon, Geoff Askin, did a six- hour operation on the child and he used a part of one of Jaxon's ribs to "graft the severed vertebrae. The child is believed to be fortunate is surviving the accident. Askin also said "A lot of children wouldn't survive that injury in the first place. And if they did and they were resuscitated they may never move or breathe again."
The child is reported to be recovering fast though he had to wear a neck brace to support his head and neck. The brace will also allow the child's nerves and tissues connecting his neck and body to fully heal.
In a report by cbsnews.com, Askin shared that it was the worst injury he had seen on a child.
Many referred to the condition as internal decapitation but Mayo Clinic orthopedic surgeon and spine specialist Dr. Michael Yaszemski said that "In general, this is not a day-to-day term we use in medicine."
Yaszemski also said that "It was a forward slippage due to trauma. I agree with Dr. Askin that it's quite remarkable this spinal cord works at all. We often see these types of injuries on post mortem exam because the arms and legs get paralyzed and the nerve that makes the diaphragm work comes off the spine and the patient can't breathe."
He also remarked that luckily, Jaxon is still a toddler which means his bones are mostly made up of cartilage making it resilient to forces that can paralyze an adult.
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