A Nevada boy is now recovering from an injury that less than one per cent of people survive — likely thanks to strangers.
Killian Gonzalez was in a car with his mom May 22 in Idaho when she hit another vehicle head-on during a hail storm, according to CTV.
The four-year-old and his mother Brandy were both trapped in their seats, their vehicle destroyed.
Joel Woodward, an off-duty police officer, and his wife Leah were driving by and saw the accident.
After checking that the other driver was okay, Joel noticed Killian in the back of his mom's car, he told the outlet.
“He was in a very awkward position. He was over on the left side of his body. I could see that his neck was apparently injured so I knew I needed to get in the vehicle to somehow help him out,” he said.
"No mom should lose their child," said the Good Samaritan who probably saved Killian's life.
They told KBOI he was screaming, but that Joel had to smash open the back window to get in because the doors were locked.
"I'm trying to stay calm but inside I'm panicking. I'm thinking I don't know what I'm doing, and it was the worst feeling I've ever had to not know how to help."
With some instructions from her husband, Leah Kaupanger-Woodward held Killian's neck still for more than 30 minutes.
"I'm trying to stay calm but inside I'm panicking. I'm thinking I don't know what I'm doing, and it was the worst feeling I've ever had to not know how to help," she said.
The boy is lucky that the two Good Samaritans came along — he had been internally decapitated, his head barely attached to his spine.
Less than one percent of people live through that kind of trauma, and those that do need a lot of surgery and a special brace.
But Killian is beating all expectations, according to KTVB. A neurosurgeon decided he didn't need surgery, and he was released from hospital just two weeks after the crash. Four of the six ligaments that link his spine to his skull were damaged.
"He's a miracle, he's literally just a miracle child," his mother told the outlet.
Kaupanger-Woodward told CTV she and Brandy have spoken every day since the accident, and that Killian is making a remarkable recovery.
"He's a miracle, he's literally just a miracle child."
"He is walking already by himself. He’s just in really good spirits. He doesn’t talk about the accident, from what I understand. But he’s walking. It’s just amazing," she said.
The preschooler also suffered bleeding in his brain, a ruptured spleen, broken ribs and an arm, according to KTVB. Brandy, who ended up with several broken bones, is endlessly grateful for the woman's actions.
"She saved my baby, she gave him back," she told KBOI.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to raise money for the two's medical expenses.
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