Jackson was airlifted from the site of the crash to a hospital in Brisbane, Queensland, on the eastern coast of Australia, where surgeons began a six-hour procedure to save the toddler’s life.
Dr. Geoff Askin, known as Australia’s “godfather of spinal surgery,” led the operation, which involved attaching a halo device to Jackson’s skull, holding him completely still while reattaching his vertebrae using a tiny piece of wire, and then taking a piece of Jackson’s rib to graft the two vertebrae together.
“A lot of children wouldn’t survive that injury in the first place,” Askin told 7 News Melbourne, “and if they did and they were resuscitated, they may never move or breathe again.”
Askin told the news station that Jackson’s condition was the worst injury of its kind that he’d seen.
More about:
