Boy recovering after clinical decapitation in Idaho crash

BOISE – A 4-year-old boy who doctors say suffered what’s known as an internal decapitation in a car crash in southwestern Idaho is expected to make a full recovery thanks to a good Samaritan who held his head steady.

Killian Gonzalez and his mom, Brandy Gonzalez, were heading home to Nevada on May 22. Authorities said their car hit ice on State Highway 51, skidded out of control and crashed head-on into another car.

Leah Woodward and her husband, a police officer in Nampa in southwest Idaho, stopped to help. Woodward, with some guidance from her husband, held the child steady for more than half an hour until emergency responders arrived.

Killian is recovering at a children’s hospital in Boise from the rare condition in which his skull was separated from his spine. He also suffered a broken arm, ribs and a ruptured spleen.

Brandy Gonzalez, who broke an arm, ankle and leg, said her son hasn’t needed surgery and is eating, walking and sitting up by himself.