melbourne mother finds crying baby cure...

Expert team saves axe-attack toddler

Michelle Pountney and Anthony Dowsley

08nov05

SURGEONS have reattached the leg of a toddler after it was severed below the knee in an axe attack. A team of 13 medical experts, including six surgeons, at the Royal Children's Hospital operated for more than 8 1/2 hours to attach the limb.

The marathon surgery began at 2.30am, less than an hour after the attack at a Mont Albert house.

Ambulance officers were called to the house at 1.43am where they found the boy, 17 months, and his severed left leg.

A call ahead to the Royal Children's Hospital triggered frantic calls to three plastic surgeons, two orthopedic surgeons, a general surgeon, two anaesthetists and five nurses who rushed back to the hospital to prepare.

At 11am, with the leg attached, the boy went to intensive care where he was last night in a critical but stable condition.

But it will be several days before doctors know whether the complicated surgery was a success.

The 21-year-old mother of the boy allegedly attacked her son with an axe after, neighbours claimed, he cried most of the day and night from the pain of teething.

The mother and son, who cannot be named for legal reasons, moved to Melbourne on Saturday seeking refuge.

It is believed they moved from a Victorian country town to the church-run private care house.

A source said the woman had a history of mental illness and a former partner was released from prison on Friday.

The attack occurred after the teething baby allegedly could not be soothed for most of the day and night.

It is believed the woman took an axe from a backyard shed and repeatedly struck him.

Surgeons who operated on the tot would not discuss the operation, but Sydney plastic surgeon Norman Olbourne, said limb reattachment was one of the most complex.

"It would be up there in the A grade of complexity," Dr Olbourne said.

Surgeons have about four hours to reattach amputated limbs before the limb starts to die.

Neighbours were shocked at the attack's severity.

One said another woman in the house wrestled the axe from the woman and phoned police.

It is believed there were two children aged 10 and 12, and a teen in the house at the time of the attack.

The neighbour said he could not hear the baby's screams over the banging of the axe.

"It's a tragic occurrence no one could expect," he said. "He had been crying and all day they had been trying to soothe him . . .

"I couldn't hear the baby screaming. All I heard was the banging."

Paramedics and police who attended the scene were shocked.

New father Acting Sgt Andrew Huntington from Box Hill police, said the incident upset him.

"I have an 11-week-old baby myself and this was a bizarre scene to go to," Sgt Huntington said.

"You just have to go there and do your job."

A psychiatric team assessed the woman at Box Hill Hospital.

Police have yet to interview her.

A Department of Human Services spokeswoman said the child was now under its care.

A Children's Court order was taken out to protect the child's identity.

The DHS did not run the care house.

source

ah, yet another reason why i shouldnt be a mother. too bad ones already on the way.

oh well. too late now

ive been recomending this method of child rearing for ages

cut limbs off every time they cry

eventually they'll get the message and realize the more they cry, the less limbs theyr left with

in case your an inbred moron, im joking

Pretty impressive that surgery began an hour after the severing. well done

probably a drug addled schizophrenic bitch

*death penalty.

whoa..what a great start to life on planet earth.

now i know exatcly what to do

THATS MELBOURNE FOR YA.

Melbourne's actually pretty damn safe, you can get trashrd and lost in the city by yourself and not have worry about punks tryin to roll ya for shit, people usually help you out too man.

word, melbourne is chill as fuck

melbourne is chill as hell, but mental health is at an all time low. remember a couple months back that other woman in balwyn that suffocated all her kids?

nah, I think I remember some junkie stealing a baby though. (baby was relocated)

This is some of the most fucked up things Ive ever heard.

That shit is just not comprehendable.

Originally posted by WhiteOx@Nov 9 2005, 12:35 AM

nah, I think I remember some junkie stealing a baby though. (baby was relocated)

Quoted post

So the junkie stole the baby and claimed it as Baby Relocation?

yo, you just redefined my perceptions about reality in one fell swoop.

FUCK OFF

why didn't she just duct tape its mouth? moreover, why doesn't every parent of crying children bust out the tape

wow.

Originally posted by ARCEL@Nov 9 2005, 10:11 PM

why didn't she just duct tape its mouth? moreover, why doesn't every parent of crying children bust out the tape

Quoted post

see, i think the idea behind parenthood is to try and inflict as much pain on the kid as they caused you. those'll be my guidelines anyway.

some people shouldnt be able to breed.