The Punch that Crippled...

Joseph recovery from his first spine operation after being punched in the back.


Joseph was born with a mix of anomalies that no one else in the world has.
Among other things, he was born with 10 hemi vertebrae in his spine, a deformed ribcage with 2 missing ribs, a protruding liver, a missing carotid artery, 50% lung capacity, slight scoliosis and only one kidney. He wasn’t expected to live more then a few minutes.

The hemi - vertebrae is neatly between the top of his spine and the bottom of his spine, throwing the scoliosis straight. Doctors called it “crazy paving” and marvelled that because of this, the small degree of scoliosis he was born with, never changed, and you couldn't tell from looking at him that it was even present. If you hadn't seen his skeletal image, he looked like a normal little boy. Joe's spine had no kyphosis, which is a forward bend.

Joseph is quite smart at his school work, and during early school years he won the regional championships for public speaking each time he entered. He was a natural stand up comedian. The only thing that stood out as different, was the protruding liver bump on his right side, which still prevents Joe from participating in contact sports. He could do everything else, jump on trampolines, jumping castles, handball, swimming etc, and aside from getting 'puffed' when he ran, he was a pain free and happy little boy.

Joseph  is  punched  in  the  spine.
That changed dramatically on Feb 3rd 2010, in year 5 at school, when a child with a well known anger management problem had an argument with another boy in the playground at the new school Joseph went to. As he walked behind my son, the kid flung his arm back,
and with full force, and for no reason, he punched Joe in the middle of his spine. Joe dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes. The pain in the vertebrae that was punched was immediate, and got worse over the next few months confining Joe to a wheel chair, and then to bed, in constant pain. No specialist spine surgeons, pain specialists, or acupuncturists that we went to were able to offer any hope of helping Joseph. He was in the too hard basket.

A 3D MRI image of Joseph's spine pre surgery, bent forward at the vertebrae site after being  punched there,  causing him unimaginable pain over 3 years.


Over the next 3 years, Joe's spine began to bend forward and downward from the vertebrae he was punched on. See image above. The pain was so excruciating, that both my wife, (who is an insulin dependent diabetic) and Joseph were getting only 1 to 3 hours of sleep a night. After years of this, my wife was ready to end it for both of them. When Joe came into our bedroom late one night, tears streaming down his face, bent in half and begging for someone to help him through the pain, he asked “Why doesn't God love me?”

My wife answered through her sobbing, “We can both go to God now and ask him”? Joe looked up at her and pondered. Then he smiled and said “Well that's a little drastic don't you think mum!” They both laughed and cried for a long time that night. God must have felt pity for Joe, because the next morning on the internet, we finally found the most amazing spine surgeon on the planet, and later when we flew down to visit his surgery, he said “I can help this boy”. And he did.

X-ray of Joseph's spinal rods and bolts. Every specialist who sees this, marvels at the skill of the spine surgeon.


The  Surgery
Two dangerous surgeries lasting over 8 hours each, had Joseph, my wife, and myself spend over a month in the hospital. First the surgeon had to remove another of Joe's ribs, cut it in half, remove the offending hemi vertebrae that the kid had punched fragment by fragment from around the spinal chord, and graft half the rib into the spine. In the second operation, the surgeon had to forcibly straighten Joe's spine as best he could, fuse the spine with the other half of the rib, and insert 2 full length titanium rods using 15 large screws into the spine.

Joseph and his spine surgeon 6 months after the operation.


From the time he was punched, until he recovered enough to attend school, Joseph missed almost all of high school. After the spine surgery he was in a wheel chair for 9 more months for the spinal rods to knit. He was able to attend some school, during year 9. However he does have some upper quadrant pain around his liver since the surgeries. That prevented him from attending school most of last year during his recovery. That liver area pain comes and goes and needs investigating, which means more specialists that we can't afford. Joe has no friends as he was isolated, and lived in his room for the better part of 4 years. Joseph hasn't gone to a party, or been able to interact with others his age.



Joseph's reminder of his two spine operations, one through the side and under his lungs, and the other through his back, where he was suspended face down on hips and shoulders for the surgery.


Back  To  School
But now in 2015 at the age of 16, Joseph finally walked (slightly crooked, but walked) into school, with a bag on his back and straight into year ten! The rods in his spine will not allow him to grow any taller, but he looks wonderful. No more spine pain.

Joseph is the most Christian, happy, innocent 16 year old you would ever have the pleasure of meeting. He has said the Lords Prayer fervently since he could speak. He has never complained about why this has all happened to him, and has never yelled at, or abused anyone even when his constant pain was at its worst. Occasionally he would cry out “Mum, please help me.” She felt so useless then. Amazingly, Joseph has never, ever cursed the boy who punched him. He really is a blessing.

Joseph happy back at school while his liver pain is at bay.


Financial  Expense 
We were so involved with trying to get pain relief for our beautiful son, that we didn't think about litigation, until he was pain free in his spine. We went to apply for some compensation from the Education Department. We felt they would have some compassion as my wife had alerted the school principal many times to the fact Joseph was being bullied, and he refused her request to put Joseph in a better class. The child who punched Joseph was from his class. Our lawyer said we were 4 months too late, as the Statute of Limitations for personal injury claims expires 3 years from the date of injury. He also said it was the worst case of personal injury he'd ever witnessed. But no financial compensation...

The last 5 years have been an expensive time. The punch that crippled Joe, financially crippled us. The years of visits to G.P's. medical specialists that couldn't help him, the drugs that didn't touch his pain, the MRI's, CT scans, x-rays, ultra sounds, wheel chairs and walking aids, time off work, ongoing rehabilitation,  and hospital stays for pain, have financially challenged us. We still have plenty of financial challenges ahead with Joseph's other medical problems. For example the medical specialists have told us that Joseph's missing carotid artery which normally carries blood from the heart to the brain, makes him very susceptible to strokes. And the pain above his liver is a mystery, but has only started after his surgeries.

When Joe got sick, we had to sell the last of our semi trailers to keep afloat financially, after losing the other trucks in the Global Financial Crisis. We now have a triple mortgage on our fully encumbered home, and are struggling to pay it back. I now work as a casual truck driver at the place I once had my own semi trailers at.

We already have a grown family of 3 children, and 5 grand children, the two eldest grandchildren are older than Joseph. One grandson whom we raised, still lives with us and is 19. Joe came late, and we are both 55 years old this year. Our financial future is looking a little bleak.

I still have some unpaid medical bills, and other bills from then as well. In fact our house mortgage is well in arrears, and is still a worry as we get constant pressure from the bank. I don’t want Joseph to lose the home he has lived in nearly all his life, since he was 3 weeks old. We really are sorry that we have to ask for financial help but we don’t want Joseph to lose any more then he already has.

Thank you for your support. Any donations we receive will be spent completely on giving Joseph a more secure life financially, and on medical help. When we are able, we will do the same here for someone else.




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Cheers
Smitho



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