'Decapitated' Boy Keeps His Head

[WhistlingJack]

I'm not entirely sure if this should go in the 'Bizarre Beheadings' thread or not... :?

Boy makes amazing crash recovery

A boy whose head was effectively severed from his neck in a racing car crash "which should have killed him" has made a miraculous recovery.

Chris Stewart, 12, suffered an internal decapitation, separating his skull and neck, when he hit a barrier at a track near Alton, Hampshire on 24 September.

His father told BBC News doctors had given Chris a 10% chance of survival.

But only two months later he was moved to a rehabilitation unit and is now planning to spend Christmas at home.

John Stewart, a 42-year-old carpenter from Fareham, said both he and his wife Debbie, 40, were watching the race when the 40mph (64km/h) crash happened at Tongham Motor Club.

A team from St John Ambulance and fire crews worked for 90 minutes to free the boy, who was 11 at the time, from the wreckage of his Mini.

Mr Stewart said he did not realised how serious his son's injuries were until the paramedics put him in the ambulance and took him to Southampton General Hospital with a police escort.

"They said he had broken his neck. [The impact of the crash] had actually taken the skull off his neck," he said.

Chris' tongue was also detached at the root, which has made speaking and eating difficult for him.

Mr Stewart said: "The doctors had never seen this kind of injury because, they said, when it happens, people die instantly.

"Apparently, only six people are known to have ever survived this and my son is the only one to have recovered [this well]."

Chris underwent a six hour operation, known as a occipital-cervical fusion, which re-attached his head to his top vertebrae with metal plates and bone-grafts.

He has since made a miraculous recovery and can now swim, walk and exercise again.

"They told us it would be a year before he could walk but he was already walking after three weeks. The doctor was in tears when he saw him."

Mr Stewart said Chris is already spending his weekends at home and will be coming home for three weeks over Christmas.

But, he said, although Chris is expected to make a near to full recovery he would not be returning to the car racing track anytime soon.

Story from BBC NEWS:

Published: 2006/12/07 13:05:28 GMT

© BBC MMVI

 

[ramonmercado]

Hes got neck enough to deserve his own thread.

 

[Stormkhan]

A 'true' decapitation would mean his neck was completely severed, including his spinal column. I'm not aware of any advances in surgery that can repair the spinal cord. So I'd assume the lucky little beggar only (?) had his throat and blood vessels severed.

Now, if his head was in his lap when he entered the emergency room, I'd be really impressed!

 

[Min Bannister]

The article said his neck was detached from his spine. I doubt he would survive having all his major blood vessels severed. Yuck.

 

[Stormkhan]

His neck from his spine? Since his spine runs down the rear/central part of the neck, I wonder how that works.

 

[Min Bannister]

I should have said his skull from his neck. I'm not really sure what you mean though.

 

[Anonymous]

Same injury happened to Christopher Reeve - though he wasn't so lucky. I remember him saying in an interview that someone came along and re-attached his 'head' to his neck, seconds after he fell from his horse, and saved his life.

 

[RainyOcean]

Here's another one:

Boy survives 'internal decapitation'
by

Ricky Barker, also known as the "Miracle Boy," needed just a little help to keep his balance.

And he still needed a ventilator in order to breathe.

Those were small details Tuesday compared with the drama of what happened next.

The 13-year-old spinal-injury victim slowly rose from his wheelchair and walked out of a Phoenix hospital, mostly under his own power.

For doctors and other health care providers, it was a spectacular feat for a boy who, by all accounts, should have been killed or left a quadriplegic in an April 10 traffic accident.

Ricky, greeted with applause by health workers, was the center of attention as he stepped to the exit of Phoenix Children's Hospital, ending a nearly three-month stay.

"It's a spectacular day," said Dr. Allen Kaplan, the hospital's medical director of pediatric neurology and one of Ricky's attending physicians.

Kaplan said that, during his more than 40-year medical career, he has seen a lot of success stories but Ricky's is one that he would rank at the top.

Dr. Allen Lieberman, a neurosurgeon who helped save Ricky's life, agreed.

It was incredible that Ricky survived an injury "that is almost universally fatal," he said. It's even more amazing that Ricky not only found a way to survive but also has managed to walk again, Lieberman added.

Ricky, a west Phoenix, Arizona resident whose left arm remains paralyzed, gave one explanation for his success story.

"I have a lot of determination and will," he told reporters. "When I got hurt, that determination and will to keep living was still there."

His parents, Stanley and Amanda, said Ricky's new lease on life is miraculous and an answer to many prayers. They said their son deserves the "Miracle Boy" name friends and family members have adopted for him.

For his part, Ricky said he looks forward to returning to his mother's home and starting his freshman year at Trevor G. Browne High School.

However, he admitted that he's just a little nervous about what the future holds.

That's a far cry from April 10 when he was struck by a car while riding his bike.

Doctors said Ricky suffered an "internal decapitation," meaning that his skull was severed from the top of his spine.

In addition, the ligaments attaching the skull to the spine were completely torn, leaving only skin and some muscle to hold the skull in place.

Ricky was in a deep coma as surgeons at Phoenix Children's went to work, reattaching his skull to his spine using metal rods, plates and screws.

Ricky eventually awoke from his coma and regained use of his right leg and arm.

Now he has partial use of his left leg, allowing him to walk.

He eventually hopes to regain use of his left arm but acknowledges things will take time.

"I want to be able to do a lot of things," Ricky said.

http://www.defrance.org/artman/publish/ ... _869.shtml