The man's head was ripped from his spine, doctors say

May 25, 2015 12:10 GMT  ·  By

A 29-year-old man in the UK who was nearly decapitated in a horrific car crash he was involved in back in last year's September has made an amazing recovery and is now waiting to be discharged from the hospital and allowed to return home. 

The doctors who oversaw his case say that, given the severity of the injuries he sustained in the car accident, nobody really believed that he would survive. In fact, his family were advised to take him off life support.

Although almost entirely paralyzed, the man has not lost his will to live. “I love Karen [his life partner] with all my heart and I can't wait to go home to get back to the life I had,” he wrote in a message composed with the help of an electric board.

The man was nearly decapitated in the car crash

In a post, Tony Cowan's mother, 56-year-old Pepsi Cowan, explains that the crash that almost cost her son his life occurred on September 9, 2014. It happened when the young man lost control of his vehicle while moving over a speed-bump.

The car ended up smashing into a telephone pole and Tony Cowan's skull was ripped from his spine. Adjacent muscles and other tissues were all that was left to hold the man's head in place.

“As a result of this accident, Tony's head was snapped off from his spine. There was only tissue and muscle holding his head on,” the man's mother details the severity of the injuries young Tony Cowan sustained in the crash.

To save his life, medical experts had to use a metal plate and bolts to reattach his head to his spine. As mentioned, 29-year-old Tony Cowan is still almost completely paralyzed.

However, the crash did not leave him with any permanent brain damage, and so the man can still recognize his family and communicate with them. He is currently looked after at the Hawthorns Neurological Rehabilitation Centre in Peterlee.

Nobody expected Tony Cowan would survive

The man's mother explains that, in the aftermath of the car crash that left him paralyzed, Tony Cowan's heart stopped. Paramedics managed to resuscitate him, but when he was finally taken to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, doctors couldn’t find any signs of brain activity.

It was concluded that Tony Cowan was brain-dead and his family were advised to take him off life support. Just hours before the machines that were keeping him alive were supposed to the turned off, however, the man opened his eyes.

Even more surprisingly, he had not lost his memory and could recognize his mother, his life partner, and other family members. However, he couldn't speak and could only communicate by blinking.

He will never walk, talk or breathe on his own again

Tony Cowan might have survived having his head snapped off from his spine, but his doctors say that the injuries he sustained in the car crash are simply too grave for him ever to walk, talk or breathe on his own again.

He is dependent on machines to live and specialists say that the simplest of infections could prove fatal to him. Hence, nobody expects the 29-year-old will be around for much longer. Even so, his family are determined to stay by his side till the very end.

“We are going to give Tony as much a normal life as possible, we have assured him we will be there for him ever day, and he will never be alone,” said partner Karen Dawson.

Presently, the 29-year-old's family are trying to raise money to buy the medical equipment the young man needs to be released from the Hawthorns Neurological Rehabilitation Center in Peterlee and move back home with his loved ones.

The young man badly fractured his spine in the car crash
The young man badly fractured his spine in the car crash

Photo Gallery (2 Images)

Young Tony Cowan now depends on machines to stay alive
The young man badly fractured his spine in the car crash
Open gallery