On the 15th September, three boys decided to hoon around on the road doing doughnuts and burn outs outside a bend on a NSW highway at 11am. That same morning 30 year old mum Rylea Taylor had packed her two children, nine year old daughter Shayne and 16 month old son Jaxon into the car to travel to QLD.
Rylea Taylor with her song Jaxon and daughter Shayne, Image Source
When Rylea rounded the bend, her car was hit by these hoons which deployed the air bags and caused terrible injuries to her children. Shayne was unconscious, but Jaxon was screaming. As Rylea tried to remain calm and remove her children from the car wreckage she realized Jaxon has a broken neck. All she could do was hold onto her children, while screaming at the three boys (who looked at their feet) to look at what they had done to her children as they stood there uninjured, offering no assistance or apologies to Rylea.
Rylea told the Daily Mail Australia, ‘Both were bleeding from their tiny faces, as I pulled my son from the car I knew his neck was broken.’
‘No mother should have to pull their kid from a car with a broken neck. I won’t ever get to forget that.’
‘I had to tell my children everything was going to be OK, I looked at my daughter and she just said ‘mum help me”. I tried desperately to hold my children,’ she said.
‘What sort of thing is that to do when the three people who caused the accident are sitting there uninjured.’
Jaxon had broken both his c1 and c2 and his collarbone which meant his neck was no longer attached to his spine. Doctors were amazed Jaxon was still alive as the injuries could have been fatal as he was so young.
Rylea holding Jaxon while wearing his Halo, Image Source
Jaxon and Shayne, still smiling despite their injuries. Image Source
Jaxon was placed in a medically induced coma for three days and will have to face months of treatment as well as wearing a halo to help fuse the bones back together.
Rylea’s daughter Shayne had internal bleeding as a result of the accident and had to have five centimeters of her small bowel removed and underwent 3 hours of surgery to stop the bleeding. Shayne will have to wear a body frame for the next eight weeks to ensure her broken vertebrae heal and won’t hunchback.
Unfortunately the laws for reckless driving and causing grievous bodily harm have different punishments in different states and the boys will walk away from the accident with just a slap on the wrists, while Rylea’s kids will have to go under further treatment as a result of the injuries caused from this accident.
Rylea has put together a petition to ensure the same punishments for reckless drivers are the same in every state of Australia. Rylea is adamant about preventing this happening to another family and wants to make a difference to ensure the same laws are applicable to all states.
To view more about Rylea’s story, you can see the news clip from Channel 7 news, and to help with the petition, please head to this link to sign and make a difference.
