Decapitated but she’s alive
Published: May 21, 2007
HER skull separated from her spine after a horrific car accident in Nebraska.
And doctors repeatedly told her family to prepare to say goodbye.
But Ms Shannon Malloy, 30, survived to become what her surgeon calls a miracle, reported AP.
Her rare condition is known clinically as internal decapitation.
In the bizarre accident, in which she hit the dashboard, her skull separated from her spine, while her skin, spinal cord and other internal organs remained intact.
The accident earlier this year left her with severe nerve damage and no control over her head.
She told 7News: ‘I had a fractured skull, swollen brain stem, bleeding in my brain (and a) tube in my stomach.
‘I can’t swallow and (I have) nerve damage in my eyes.’
But unlike someone with a broken neck, she was not paralysed.
She can walk, move her limbs and can even speak - in short bursts between gasps for breath, though.
She said: ‘I remember the impact and then I had no control over my head.
Orhopaedic surgeon Gary Ghiselli of Denver Spine Center said he and his colleagues had never seen such an injury in someone still living.
‘I’ve seen it once before,’ DrGhiselli said, ‘And, unfortunately, the patient did not make it.’
MsMalloy said of the accident: ‘I wasn’t focused so much on the pain. I just kept thinking, ‘I have to stay alive.’
At the hospital, fivescrews were drilled into her neck and another four into her head to keep it stabilised.
A halo structure - rods and a circular metal bar - was then attached for added support.
Dr Ghiselli said Ms Malloy’s will to survive kept her alive long enough for the halo to be installed.
Said Ms Malloy: ‘My skull slipped off my neck about five times.’
Her mother, Mrs Robin Frazee, remembers the first few days in the hospital as ‘touch and go’.
SHE’S A MIRACLE
Doctors eventually strengthened MsMalloy’s neck and removed the halo.
Said Dr Ghiselli: ‘It’s a miracle that she was able to survive from the actual accident. It’s a miracle that she has made the progress (she has).’
Ms Malloy hopes to recover fully although she knows it is not likely.
‘I could come real close though,’ she said.
She still has a long, costly recovery ahead. Among other things, doctors will need to work on her swallowing and vision.
If you enjoyed this good news Subscribe to Good News Blog
Share this
To share this simply copy and paste one of the below URL's: