Though it may sound like science fiction, bizaare reports of how doctors successfully managed to reattach sixteen-month-old Jackson Taylor's severed head from his body is absolutely true, as the NY Daily News reports.
The toddler from Brisbane, Australia suffered in a car crash last September 15 that saw his head internally separated from his neck. The surgery took six hours to perform and now doctors expect him to make a full recovery.
People have heralded the event as no less than a miracle. Geoff Askin, the spinal surgeon involved in the miracle surgery said that there was no way for a child to be resuscitated in that predicament.
The accident took place when Rylea Taylor crashed the car she was driving at 70 mph head on into another automobile. She had both Jackson and his sister, 9-year-old Shane in the car.
The diagnosis is enough to make any parent collapse in horror. Apparently, Jackson was officially decapitated, as the head had virtually separated from the spine, although the spinal cord was undamaged.
Many have praised the brilliance of the Australian surgical team who was responsible for using a wired and bone graft to attach the head and neck together again. Christian Today adds that doctors removed a rib from Jackson and used this small piece to graft together two damaged vertebrae.
Christian Today further reports that from the completion of the surgery, the brave little boy shall henceforward wear a halo device that will keep his head in place during the recovery period.
Everyone agrees, especially distraught and now fully recovered and elated mother Rylea Taylor, that the whole thing can be no less than a miracle.
The developments have also publicized the amazing skills of the medical team that led the surgical endeavor. Askin specializes in paediatric spinal surgery; scoliosis and adult spine surgery. Despite the height of respect he commands in the medical community, Askin himself expected very little success from the remarkable case.
