'Decapitated' toddler has head reattached by surgeons after car crash

Jackson Taylor underwent six hours of surgery to reattach his head to his neck after a car accident.

16-month-old Jackson Taylor's mother knew instantly that something was badly wrong with him after her car collided head-on with another vehicle.

"The second I pulled him out, I knew his neck was broken," said Rylea Taylor.

The toddler was airlifted from the scene of the crash to a hospital in Brisbane where doctors rushed to save his life.

Jackson had suffered what doctors refer to as an internal decapitation - the force of the 70mph crash broke his C1 and C2 vertebrae, separating his head from his neck.

"A lot of children wouldn't survive that injury in the first place, and if they did and they were resuscitated then they may never move or breathe again," Dr Geoff Askin told Australian news channel 7 News Melbourne.

He said that Jackson’s condition was the worst injury of its kind that he’d seen.

Dr Askin, who is known as Australia’s “godfather of spinal surgery,” led the operation which took six hours. A halo device was attached to Jackson’s skull, holding him completely still while Askin reattached his vertebrae using a tiny piece of wire. Then, he took a piece of Jackson’s rib to graft the two vertebrae together.

But, amazingly, while he'll have to wear the halo for eight weeks to help his bones fuse back together, Jackson is expected to make a full recovery.

Jackson's dad Andrew said: “We’re very, very thankful”, with his mother adding: “It is a miracle.”