German boy survives near-fatal crash, recovering after Chicago surgery
Miracle of modern medicine
A two-year-old boy from Germany, who nearly lost his life in a car crash while in Mexico is out of a Chicago hospital recovering.
CHICAGO - It’s being called a miracle of modern medicine. A two-year-old boy from Germany who nearly lost his life in a car crash while in Mexico is out of a Chicago hospital recovering.
What we know:
Back in April, an armored vehicle going 70 miles per hour slammed into the family’s minivan during a trip to Mexico. The impact was so violent, it completely disconnected 2-year-old Oliver’s head from his spinal cord.
Doctors in Mexico said he would never move his arms or legs again, he was brain-dead and said he would die in a matter of days.
"Oliver was in the back row and his head was in a weird position, there was no facial features or something so I went immediately to the back and I checked on him," said Oliver's father, Stefan Staub. "I screamed his name, Oliver, Oliver. There was no reaction, and they told me they have to make a test if there is a connection between his head and his body. I came in again, and they said there is no connection so he will be paralyzed for the rest of his life from his neck down."
Most people would not survive an injury that severe, but what happened next stunned doctors around the world.
His parents refused to give up. They cared for him for weeks in Mexico, knowing that one wrong move could end his life until help arrived.
Through social media, and the support of German soccer star Toni Kroos, his story went viral.
His family raised enough money to fly him more than 2,000 miles to Chicago, where Dr. Mohamad Bydon and a team at UChicago Medicine Comer Children’s Hospital performed two intricate spinal surgeries to reattach his head to his spine.
The surgeries spanned two days, and at one point, Oliver's heart stopped. CPR was administered, and he was revived.
The next concern was the amount of swelling on the brain. After weeks of recovery, Oliver is not only breathing on his own — he’s smiling, laughing, and moving his fingers and toes.
His parents call it a miracle. Doctors call it unprecedented.
"His condition began to improve," Bydon said. "He began to breathe over the vent, which is something that he had not been able to do. He began to even move his arms and legs, hands and feet. And when that initially happened, we had disbelief. We thought, no, no, maybe that's not happening. Or maybe that's some reflex or something like that."
"He didn't promise us a miracle, he delivered one," said Oliver's mother Laura Staub-Garcia.
What's next:
Oliver left Comer Children’s Hospital on August 15. His family is moving from Germany to Mexico to be closer to his mom Laura’s relatives.
He will continue physical therapy and take medicine to reduce inflammation. In about six months, he should be able to remove his neck brace.
The family will return to Chicago in the spring, when Dr. Bydon may try a new stem cell treatment – pending special FDA approval – to help Oliver move better.