The toddler was swiftly airlifted to a Melbourne hospital where X-ray results revealed his head and neck had been separated.
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While an airbag saved the mother, and the sister – aged nine – suffered abdominal injuries, Jaxon came out with an internal decapitation: his head and neck were pulled apart from the spinal column.
Little Jackson Taylor was travelling with his mother and older sister, Shane when their vehicle had a head-on collision with another auto.
Jackson Taylor wears a halo device on his head in this screenshot of a video footage from 7NewsMelbourne. His spinal cord was damaged, but it fortunately survived.
He remarked, “A lot of children wouldn’t survive that injury in the first place, and if they did and if they were resuscitated they may never move or breathe again”. After reaching the operating theatre in Brisbane, Australia, the infant underwent 6 hours of surgery during which spinal surgeon Geoff Askin innovatively used wire and a piece of the boy’s rib to graft his vertebrae back together.
He said that Jackson’s condition was the worst injury of its kind that he’d seen. The toddler is now wearing an apparatus to keep his body stable and it will be removed in eight weeks. The halo brace has a metal ring that was attached to a tiny body vest worn by the toddler.
Jackson now appears well and is expected to go home in a few days.
The Queensland health authority, that has looked after the family, has posted online saying: “Surgeons at the Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital worked for six hours to rebuild 16-month-old Jaxon’s neck after it was broken in a auto accident”.
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Taylor’s parents, Andrew and Rylea, have described the surgery and their son’s recovery as a “miracle”. Specialist staff pulled off what was thought to be impossible. After that short stint, hopefully he will be able to lead a normal life, 7 News Melbourne reports.
