A BOY survived being internally decapitated after a horror car crash in a “Christmas miracle”, his doctors revealed.
Jordan Taylor, from Hillsbroro, Texas, was just nine when the car he was riding in slammed into a dump truck at an intersection in 2008.
CBSJordan Taylor, from Hillsbroro, Texas, was just nine when he was “internally decapitated” in a horror car crash[/caption]
CBSHis mum Stacy Perez said his recovery ‘is the best Christmas miracle that I could ever imagine’[/caption]
The impact caused his skull to shift forward an inch, separating from the spine in what is known medically as atlanto-occipital dislocation.
His mum Stacy Perez, who was driving and suffered a flayed arm, described “screaming his name” after turning round to see him slumped in his chair.
Dr Richard Roberts, of Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth, said medics were shocked he was still breathing by the time he reached the hospital.
Speaking at the time, he told ABC News: “This was the first patient with this condition that I’ve seen survive.
“It’s not very frequent that this kind of patient makes it to us.”
Atlanto-occipital dislocation is an injury that kills up to 98 per cent of patients and usually causes lifetime paralysis in survivors, according to doctors.
It is caused by damage to the ligaments or bones connecting the skull to the cervical spine.
Dr Roberts told the Early Show on CBS at the time: “The energy basically made his head lift up off of his neck, and then move forward.
“All of the connective tissue that essentially keeps your head connected to your neck was destroyed.”
The paediatric neurosurgeon and his team put Jordan’s skull into a carbon fibre “halo” to stabilise his neck and then took him into surgery.
They put a titanium plate on the back of his skull and attached it to his neck with screws and rods.
After three months of treatment in hospital, Jordan was discharged and was able to walk out the building.
Stacy could not believe her son’s miraculous recovery after first seeing his lifeless body immediately after the accident.
She said: “I remember seeing him in the car and his head was just kind of just hanging down.
“First he talked, then walked, then no brain damage, it was just better news as time moved on.”
She added: “He’s like a little boy again he is walking. I have to tell him to slow down.
“This is the best Christmas miracle that I could ever imagine.”