The little Sydney boy who suffered catastrophic injuries in the Sea World helicopter disaster on the Gold Coast, Nicholas Tadros, has been taken off life support and is reportedly responding “extremely well” to therapy, according to his father.
Following the tragedy on January 2, which also took the lives of his mother Vanessa and four other people, the 10-year-old has remained in critical condition in the hospital.
Five days after Nicholas’ “mammoth” six-hour surgery, family friend Charlie Bakhos posted a Facebook update from his father Simon.
He wrote in the message, “Nicky has been off life support now for a few days.
His body has reacted quite well, although he is still on a ventilator to support his breathing.
Nicholas has a long path to rehabilitation, but the early signals are encouraging, the father continued.
He has occasionally woken up and been able to answer to queries with a nod or a shake of the head after they temporarily reduced his sedative medication.
He can also hold my hand, but his legs are still immobile. I’ve been told that may be because both of his legs have broken bones.
This week, Nicholas will need two additional surgeries.
His father had earlier stated that there had been a fear when it was discovered that jet fuel had entered his lungs.
The information is released as hundreds of mourners assemble on the Gold Coast to pay their respects to the crash victims.
Vanessa Tadros, Ron and Diane Hughes, a British newlywed couple, and Ash Jenkinson, the pilot, all perished in the collision of the two Sea World Helicopters helicopters just before 2:00 p.m.
Winnie de Silva, a mother and son from Geelong, was also badly hurt in the collision, although their circumstances eventually got better in the hospital.
This Monday, the Civil Aviation Authority announced that Sea World Helicopters will require its approval before beginning flights again.
