INTRODUCTION
TARA BROWN: I've never met anyone quite like Terry Vo. First there's the sparkle in his eyes, the smile, then his courage, his calmness and his spirit. At times, you almost forget he's only 10 that he's been through such a terrible ordeal. For Terry Vo is the boy who lost both his hands and his left foot in a freak accident. There he was on Easter Saturday, playing basketball, trying a slam dunk, when the hoop and part of a garage wall came crashing down on him. Then came a dramatic world first intricate, painstaking surgery to save Terry's hands and foot. And the result? Well, see for yourself.
Picture Start:
1:30
TARA BROWN (Reporter) :
01:41 Despite the smile, this is painful for Terry Vo.
NURSE:
01:46 He's very patient.
TARA BROWN (Reporter):
01:50 Today, just two weeks after the accident, some of his stitches are being removed.
TARA BROWN (Reporter):
01:58 Q: Does it hurt when they come out?
TERRY VO:
02:00 Yeah, a little bit.
TARA BROWN:
02:03 Through it all, the six hours of daily cleaning, re-bandaging and relentless physiotherapy, this gentle 10-year-old maintains his patience and his grin.
NATSOT:
Itchy nose?
TARA BROWN (Reporter):
02:20 Q:What signal did you give to say you've got an itchy nose?
TERRY VO:
02:23 Just like...
NURSE:
02:27 Bend it right down, bend, bend, bend, bend.
TARA BROWN:
02:29 They may be minuscule movements, but this is a medical wonder.
NURSE:
02:33 One, good. See if you can touch it. Go, go, go, go, go. Hand straighten. Good job.
TERRY VO:
02:40 I would like to improve a little bit a day.
TARA BROWN:
02:44 Q:Do you feel like you are?
TERRY VO:
02:46 A: Yeah.
TARA BROWN:
02:51 Who would have thought that a collapsing basketball ring could cause such devastating injuries, but Terry can't believe he's alive.
TERRY:
02:59 I am really, really lucky.
TARA BROWN:
03:03 Q:In what way could it have been worse?
TERRY:
03:04 Like it could have chopped up here where my elbow were. And it could chop, even chop my head off.
DR ROBERT LOVE (Plastic Surgeon):
03:13 I received this call that the ambulance team was bringing in a 10-year-old boy who'd just had an accident and they were transporting with him three limbs which were separated from the body in a bucket.
TARA BROWN:
03:28 Perth plastic surgeon Dr Robert Love led the medical team from Princess Margaret Hospital for Children.
DR ROBERT LOVE:
03:35 The very first thought that goes through your mind is incredulity. Surely it's not two hands, two whole hands and a foot. How could that possibly have happened?
TARA BROWN:
03:50 It could have been anyone's backyard. Easter weekend, a child's birthday party and the children gathered around to play a game of basketball. Terry Vo had the ball and, as he'd done in countless other games, decided to slam dunk it. He jumped, grabbed the basketball hoop, which was just there, just above the garage, but as he hung on, the brick wall it was attached to gave way.
TERRY:
04:20 I was halfway jumping to slam dunk it and then I said, "I shouldn't do this," but it was too late. I held on to it and then the accident happened. Like, it all fell down. I heard the noise.
TARA BROWN:
04:33 What was the noise like?
TERRY:
04:35 It was just like a cracking, crumbling noise.
TAM VO (FATHER):
04:40 See, heavy, you know, quite heavy. Broke down, put in hand like this. How can you imagine, like, cut off straight away. Very strange.
TARA BROWN:
04:53 Imagine the scene for Terry's father, Tam his injured son lying amongst the rubble, hands and left foot cut off by the weight and jagged edges of the bricks.
TAM VO:
05:04 I say, "You okay, Terry?" He says, "I'm okay. I'm still alive, I'm okay."
TARA BROWN:
05:10 Q: So he said to you, "I'm okay, I'm alive"?
TAM VO:
05:13 Yeah, yeah.
TARA BROWN:
05:14 Q: And do you remember when you actually lost your hands and your foot?
TERRY:
05:20 A: It was pins and needles. It wasn't really hurting much but I felt it and it felt like all shivering and I could still feel my hands while I was closing my eyes. When I opened my eyes I saw that my hands were gone. I still felt my leg, so I thought it was still there so when I stood up, I fell down because ... and then I looked at my leg and it was chopped off.
KERRY HOPKINS (Ambulance Officer):
05:53 All we got that night was that we were going to someone called Terry.
TARA BROWN:
05:56 As ambulance officers Kerry Hopkins and Rob Perrozzi raced to help Terry, his severed limbs were being saved by some quick thinking. They were placed in plastic bags and then put on ice in an esky. When Kerry and Rob arrived they thought they were dealing with a crime, not an accident.
KERRY HOPKINS:
06:16 I said, "What, who did this to him?" And they said, "He did it himself, he was playing." I'm thinking, "Playing with what, a chainsaw?"
ROB PERROZZI (Ambulance Officer):
06:24 It didn't make sense.
KERRY HOPKINS:
06:25 It didn't make sense at all, no.
ROB PERROZZI :
06:26 He said, "I did it, I was playing basketball. I was playing basketball," and I'm looking at these severed limbs and thinking, "How did this happen playing basketball?"
TARA BROWN:
06:32 Q: What state was Terry in?
KERRY HOPKINS:
06:34 A: He was the calmest person there. In the midst of all this chaos there's this little calm boy. I introduced myself and said, "Hi, Terry, how old are you?" He said, "I'm 10 and I've got 90 to go." So, yeah, he was lovely, very, very calm. The bravest child I've ever met.
TERRY:
06:47 I didn't scream. I didn't cry. I didn't do anything. I stayed calm.
TARA BROWN:
06:53 Q:How could you stay calm after what you'd just gone through?
TERRY:
06:57 A: I don't know. I just stayed calm. I learned in school that if you like, cut yourself and you, like, cry, you'll bleed more and you'll lose more blood, so I say it would be important for me to stay calm.
(Reconstruction)
DOCTOR 1:
07:18 We've got a 10-year-old boy with amputation of both arms and his left leg.
DOCTOR 2:
07:23Terry, we're just about to move you across onto the bed on the other side.
TARA BROWN:
07:26 With Terry's arrival, the emergency department of Princess Margaret Hospital worked to stabilise him, readying him for surgery.
DOCTOR 1:
07:36 I'm just about to give the morphine now.
DOCTOR 2:
07:43 Terry, you're doing very well.
TERRY:
07:44 I just thought it was a dream.
TARA BROWN:
07:47 Did you, you didn't know, you didn't think it was really happening to you?
TERRY:
07:50 I thought about it and then I knew, but I just keep thinking, I'm like, "This is a dream, don't think it's real, this is a dream, don't cry, this is a dream."
DOCTOR 1:
08:02 So where are we up to? Have we spoken to the surgeons? The surgeons are coming down, x-ray's on its way.
TARA BROWN:
08:08 Up to this point, everything was working in Terry's favour. The ambulance had arrived within minutes of the accident; his severed limbs had been cared for perfectly. Now he needed specialist care. But remember, there were three limbs that needed reattaching, ideally all at the same time never done before, and it was a Saturday night on a holiday weekend. The chances of just getting the specialists together at such short notice have been described as a million to one.
DR ROBERT LOVE:
08:35 The time is very, very much against you and you realise very quickly the clock is ticking. We'd need to run three teams and we needed a separate scrub team for the orthopaedic side of things. So whilst I was on my way up to theatre I carried the esky of parts up with me and organised for them to be x-rayed.
DR ROBERT LOVE: Natsot:
09:00 So that's his left foot, left hand and right hand. Just on his left foot you'll see that the foot has actually come off about 7cm above the ankle joint. So this is the ankle joint down here. If you look closely the shoe is still on, that's the sole of the shoe and this is the strapping of the shoe and you can see the bones have been shattered.
TARA BROWN:
09:18 This is what the surgeons were faced with a massive job. For me, seeing these x-rays, seeing Terry's limbs so intact yet so detached is surreal.
NATSOT SURGEON:
09:30 Identify all the structure to get ready for reattachment.
TARA BROWN:
09:35 In just 1.5 hours, Dr Love manages to gather a medical team of 19. It's 9pm, and medical history is about to be created.
NATSOT: SURGEON:
09:45 Can I have the micro-instruments, please.
NATSOT DOCTOR:
09:49 Do we need to get some more of this rubble out?
TARA BROWN:
09:52 So jagged are Terry's broken bones the orthopaedic team has to shorten them by three to four centimetres to neaten up the join. By 10pm, they're using metal plates and screws to hold the bones together.
NATSOT SURGEON:
10:07 Can we both be stitching please? Can we have another pair of needle holders.
TARA BROWN:
10:11 An hour later, three teams of micro-surgeons go to work reconnecting nerves, veins, arteries and tendons.
NATSOT SURGEON:
10:22 Tonya, we're probably half an hour away from letting his left hand down and we're going to let it bleed out of the back, so he'll lose a little bit of blood. You might need to cross-match some more blood.
TARA BROWN:
10:32 After reattaching the three limbs, restoring blood flow to them poses the greatest risk. If it's not done carefully, toxins can spread and poison Terry's small body.
NATSOT SURGEON:
10:43 Were not long away from getting the scope in if we can please.
TARA BROWN:
10:46 I guess you don't have any guarantee that a child can survive surgery like that?
DR ROBERT LOVE:
10:50 No, there are no guarantees at all. Having said that, it's always life before limb. So, if at any stage we felt that the limbs were going to kill Terry, we would have actually taken the limbs off.
NATSOT SURGEON:
11:02 Can I have a pair of micro-scissors too.
TARA BROWN:
11:05 3:30am, less than 9 hours after his accident, Terry Vo's hands and foot are back where they belong.
NATSOT SURGEON:
11:12 Looks beaut, Roger.
DR ROBERT LOVE:
11:15 We were all quite positive with the fact that all limbs were nice and pink. The toes and fingers were lovely and pink and warm and so obviously all the bandages were then applied. Terry was kept asleep and transferred to the intensive care unit.
TARA BROWN:
11:37 Terry woke to find his very relieved parents, Tam and Trang, by his side. Within days, as this home video shows, this fragile figure was as mobile as he could be.
TARA BROWN:
11:51 Q: How did you react to know that you had had both your hands put back on and your foot put back on?
TERRY:
11:57 I was really, really happy that it was recovering and the doctor say it would be OK.
TARA BROWN:
12:07 Q; Did you think they'd be able to do it?
TERRY:
12:09 A: Yeah.
NATSOT TAM VO:
12:10 There's a lot of people out there sending you card and wishing you well.
TARA BROWN:
12;14 For the first week, Terry's recovery was beyond expectation. And then, bad news his foot began to die. It would need to be amputated.
DR ROBERT LOVE:
12:24 If you can just imagine the muscles then really died from the inside out so that the skin was still alive, the blood vessel was still flowing but the foot was very slowly becoming crippled.
TARA BROWN:
12:35 Q:When Dr Love came in and said, "We have a problem with your foot?"
TERRY: Yes.
TARA BROWN:
12:41 How did you feel about that?
TERRY:
12:43 Um, okay, because they say it might, it might stay alive and it may not stay alive, so, I just hoped it would stay alive and then when they say, "Oh, take my foot off and put a prosthesis on, you'll have your leg faster and you can run fast sooner," I said, "Yeah, I would like to have that."
NATSOT NURSE:
13:09 Okay, and swing your legs around this way, wiggle around this way. So we need to get your arms up there. Can you do a hop for me and hop your body in closer. Good boy.
TARA BROWN:
13:21 A fortnight after his accident and this is Terry's first step into a specially designed frame to help him walk again.
NATSOT NURSE:
13:27 Are you okay? Do you want to lie down for a bit?
TERRY: Yes.
NATSOT NURSE: Yep, okay.
TARA BROWN:
13:33 In our week with Terry, this strong-willed boy went from an exhausting first try...
NATSOT NURSE:
13:36 You tell us when you've done enough and you want to go back, okay?
TARA BROWN:
13:40 to taking on and beating the hospital corridor.
NATSOT NURSE:
13:43 Do you need a rest? No, you're okay?
TERRY:
13:46 I need to hop, I need to hop.
NATSOT NURSE:
13:47 Okay, let's hop, hop, hop.
TARA BROWN:
13:50 In the next couple of weeks Terry will be fitted with his prosthetic leg. The movement in his hands may take a lot longer.
TARA BROWN:
14:00 Q: Can you feel the ends of your fingers yet?
TERRY:
14::02 Ah, yes. Pins and needles.
TARA BROWN:
14:07 So if you were to close your eyes and I was to touch your ring finger would you know I was touching your ring finger?
TERRY:
14:14 Yeah, because I don't know cold or hot or anything on my finger, but I just know I'm touching something.
NATSOT NURSE:
14:25 Last month he went for a count of three. Ready, set, go.
TERRY:
14:29 Ten.
NATSOT NURSE:
14:30 No, 10's too hard.
TARA BROWN:
14:32 Do you expect him to be able to make a fist one day, to be able to write, to be able to use a knife and fork?
DR ROBERT LOVE:
14:39 I am hopeful that he will be able to do. I'm very guarded in my optimism because it really depends so much on, you know, his dedication to his own hand therapy. I think we're very fortunate to have a very, very positive individual.
TERRY:
14:53 (Sings) "I feel good, so good so good, so good... "
TARA BROWN:
15:07 It's hard to imagine that anyone could be in such good spirits, confined to hospital with such a long, hard recovery ahead, but then we're not Terry Vo. And it's his pluckiness that's affected so many already.
GUY SEBASTIAN:
15:24 How ya goin', Terry? It's nice to meet you, matey.
TARA BROWN:
15:27 Like pop idol Guy Sebastian, who dropped by for a chat...
GUY SEBASTIAN:
15:30 So you like boxing?
TERRY:
15:32 Yep.
TARA BROWN:
15:32 a tour of the wards and a grilling on kid's hospital radio.
TERRY:
15:36 What address do you live at in Sydney?
GUY SEBASTIAN:
15:41 What address do I live at? I live in a place called Palm Beach. Can I ask you a question?
TERRY: Yes.
GUY SEBASTIAN:
15:48 Do you have a crush on any of the nurses?
TERRY: No!
TARA BROWN:
15:58 You wonder if in the quiet moments Terry thinks about the enormity of what he faces. Certainly you get a sense his parents, Tam and Trang, do. These refugees from Vietnam, who run a small business in Perth, have worked hard all their lives, but perhaps their biggest struggle is coming to terms with what's happened to their only child. Terry remains philosophical beyond his years.
TERRY:
16:31 Now I know how brave I am and how positive and happy I am to be alive and to have all my hands back.
TARA BROWN:
16:46 And to learn that about yourself, what's that like?
TERRY:
16:50 Um, really exciting and pretty cool, yeah.
16:59 Ends
TARA BROWN: I've never met anyone quite like Terry Vo. First there's the sparkle in his eyes, the smile, then his courage, his calmness and his spirit. At times, you almost forget he's only 10 that he's been through such a terrible ordeal. For Terry Vo is the boy who lost both his hands and his left foot in a freak accident. There he was on Easter Saturday, playing basketball, trying a slam dunk, when the hoop and part of a garage wall came crashing down on him. Then came a dramatic world first intricate, painstaking surgery to save Terry's hands and foot. And the result? Well, see for yourself.
Picture Start:
1:30
TARA BROWN (Reporter) :
01:41 Despite the smile, this is painful for Terry Vo.
NURSE:
01:46 He's very patient.
TARA BROWN (Reporter):
01:50 Today, just two weeks after the accident, some of his stitches are being removed.
TARA BROWN (Reporter):
01:58 Q: Does it hurt when they come out?
TERRY VO:
02:00 Yeah, a little bit.
TARA BROWN:
02:03 Through it all, the six hours of daily cleaning, re-bandaging and relentless physiotherapy, this gentle 10-year-old maintains his patience and his grin.
NATSOT:
Itchy nose?
TARA BROWN (Reporter):
02:20 Q:What signal did you give to say you've got an itchy nose?
TERRY VO:
02:23 Just like...
NURSE:
02:27 Bend it right down, bend, bend, bend, bend.
TARA BROWN:
02:29 They may be minuscule movements, but this is a medical wonder.
NURSE:
02:33 One, good. See if you can touch it. Go, go, go, go, go. Hand straighten. Good job.
TERRY VO:
02:40 I would like to improve a little bit a day.
TARA BROWN:
02:44 Q:Do you feel like you are?
TERRY VO:
02:46 A: Yeah.
TARA BROWN:
02:51 Who would have thought that a collapsing basketball ring could cause such devastating injuries, but Terry can't believe he's alive.
TERRY:
02:59 I am really, really lucky.
TARA BROWN:
03:03 Q:In what way could it have been worse?
TERRY:
03:04 Like it could have chopped up here where my elbow were. And it could chop, even chop my head off.
DR ROBERT LOVE (Plastic Surgeon):
03:13 I received this call that the ambulance team was bringing in a 10-year-old boy who'd just had an accident and they were transporting with him three limbs which were separated from the body in a bucket.
TARA BROWN:
03:28 Perth plastic surgeon Dr Robert Love led the medical team from Princess Margaret Hospital for Children.
DR ROBERT LOVE:
03:35 The very first thought that goes through your mind is incredulity. Surely it's not two hands, two whole hands and a foot. How could that possibly have happened?
TARA BROWN:
03:50 It could have been anyone's backyard. Easter weekend, a child's birthday party and the children gathered around to play a game of basketball. Terry Vo had the ball and, as he'd done in countless other games, decided to slam dunk it. He jumped, grabbed the basketball hoop, which was just there, just above the garage, but as he hung on, the brick wall it was attached to gave way.
TERRY:
04:20 I was halfway jumping to slam dunk it and then I said, "I shouldn't do this," but it was too late. I held on to it and then the accident happened. Like, it all fell down. I heard the noise.
TARA BROWN:
04:33 What was the noise like?
TERRY:
04:35 It was just like a cracking, crumbling noise.
TAM VO (FATHER):
04:40 See, heavy, you know, quite heavy. Broke down, put in hand like this. How can you imagine, like, cut off straight away. Very strange.
TARA BROWN:
04:53 Imagine the scene for Terry's father, Tam his injured son lying amongst the rubble, hands and left foot cut off by the weight and jagged edges of the bricks.
TAM VO:
05:04 I say, "You okay, Terry?" He says, "I'm okay. I'm still alive, I'm okay."
TARA BROWN:
05:10 Q: So he said to you, "I'm okay, I'm alive"?
TAM VO:
05:13 Yeah, yeah.
TARA BROWN:
05:14 Q: And do you remember when you actually lost your hands and your foot?
TERRY:
05:20 A: It was pins and needles. It wasn't really hurting much but I felt it and it felt like all shivering and I could still feel my hands while I was closing my eyes. When I opened my eyes I saw that my hands were gone. I still felt my leg, so I thought it was still there so when I stood up, I fell down because ... and then I looked at my leg and it was chopped off.
KERRY HOPKINS (Ambulance Officer):
05:53 All we got that night was that we were going to someone called Terry.
TARA BROWN:
05:56 As ambulance officers Kerry Hopkins and Rob Perrozzi raced to help Terry, his severed limbs were being saved by some quick thinking. They were placed in plastic bags and then put on ice in an esky. When Kerry and Rob arrived they thought they were dealing with a crime, not an accident.
KERRY HOPKINS:
06:16 I said, "What, who did this to him?" And they said, "He did it himself, he was playing." I'm thinking, "Playing with what, a chainsaw?"
ROB PERROZZI (Ambulance Officer):
06:24 It didn't make sense.
KERRY HOPKINS:
06:25 It didn't make sense at all, no.
ROB PERROZZI :
06:26 He said, "I did it, I was playing basketball. I was playing basketball," and I'm looking at these severed limbs and thinking, "How did this happen playing basketball?"
TARA BROWN:
06:32 Q: What state was Terry in?
KERRY HOPKINS:
06:34 A: He was the calmest person there. In the midst of all this chaos there's this little calm boy. I introduced myself and said, "Hi, Terry, how old are you?" He said, "I'm 10 and I've got 90 to go." So, yeah, he was lovely, very, very calm. The bravest child I've ever met.
TERRY:
06:47 I didn't scream. I didn't cry. I didn't do anything. I stayed calm.
TARA BROWN:
06:53 Q:How could you stay calm after what you'd just gone through?
TERRY:
06:57 A: I don't know. I just stayed calm. I learned in school that if you like, cut yourself and you, like, cry, you'll bleed more and you'll lose more blood, so I say it would be important for me to stay calm.
(Reconstruction)
DOCTOR 1:
07:18 We've got a 10-year-old boy with amputation of both arms and his left leg.
DOCTOR 2:
07:23Terry, we're just about to move you across onto the bed on the other side.
TARA BROWN:
07:26 With Terry's arrival, the emergency department of Princess Margaret Hospital worked to stabilise him, readying him for surgery.
DOCTOR 1:
07:36 I'm just about to give the morphine now.
DOCTOR 2:
07:43 Terry, you're doing very well.
TERRY:
07:44 I just thought it was a dream.
TARA BROWN:
07:47 Did you, you didn't know, you didn't think it was really happening to you?
TERRY:
07:50 I thought about it and then I knew, but I just keep thinking, I'm like, "This is a dream, don't think it's real, this is a dream, don't cry, this is a dream."
DOCTOR 1:
08:02 So where are we up to? Have we spoken to the surgeons? The surgeons are coming down, x-ray's on its way.
TARA BROWN:
08:08 Up to this point, everything was working in Terry's favour. The ambulance had arrived within minutes of the accident; his severed limbs had been cared for perfectly. Now he needed specialist care. But remember, there were three limbs that needed reattaching, ideally all at the same time never done before, and it was a Saturday night on a holiday weekend. The chances of just getting the specialists together at such short notice have been described as a million to one.
DR ROBERT LOVE:
08:35 The time is very, very much against you and you realise very quickly the clock is ticking. We'd need to run three teams and we needed a separate scrub team for the orthopaedic side of things. So whilst I was on my way up to theatre I carried the esky of parts up with me and organised for them to be x-rayed.
DR ROBERT LOVE: Natsot:
09:00 So that's his left foot, left hand and right hand. Just on his left foot you'll see that the foot has actually come off about 7cm above the ankle joint. So this is the ankle joint down here. If you look closely the shoe is still on, that's the sole of the shoe and this is the strapping of the shoe and you can see the bones have been shattered.
TARA BROWN:
09:18 This is what the surgeons were faced with a massive job. For me, seeing these x-rays, seeing Terry's limbs so intact yet so detached is surreal.
NATSOT SURGEON:
09:30 Identify all the structure to get ready for reattachment.
TARA BROWN:
09:35 In just 1.5 hours, Dr Love manages to gather a medical team of 19. It's 9pm, and medical history is about to be created.
NATSOT: SURGEON:
09:45 Can I have the micro-instruments, please.
NATSOT DOCTOR:
09:49 Do we need to get some more of this rubble out?
TARA BROWN:
09:52 So jagged are Terry's broken bones the orthopaedic team has to shorten them by three to four centimetres to neaten up the join. By 10pm, they're using metal plates and screws to hold the bones together.
NATSOT SURGEON:
10:07 Can we both be stitching please? Can we have another pair of needle holders.
TARA BROWN:
10:11 An hour later, three teams of micro-surgeons go to work reconnecting nerves, veins, arteries and tendons.
NATSOT SURGEON:
10:22 Tonya, we're probably half an hour away from letting his left hand down and we're going to let it bleed out of the back, so he'll lose a little bit of blood. You might need to cross-match some more blood.
TARA BROWN:
10:32 After reattaching the three limbs, restoring blood flow to them poses the greatest risk. If it's not done carefully, toxins can spread and poison Terry's small body.
NATSOT SURGEON:
10:43 Were not long away from getting the scope in if we can please.
TARA BROWN:
10:46 I guess you don't have any guarantee that a child can survive surgery like that?
DR ROBERT LOVE:
10:50 No, there are no guarantees at all. Having said that, it's always life before limb. So, if at any stage we felt that the limbs were going to kill Terry, we would have actually taken the limbs off.
NATSOT SURGEON:
11:02 Can I have a pair of micro-scissors too.
TARA BROWN:
11:05 3:30am, less than 9 hours after his accident, Terry Vo's hands and foot are back where they belong.
NATSOT SURGEON:
11:12 Looks beaut, Roger.
DR ROBERT LOVE:
11:15 We were all quite positive with the fact that all limbs were nice and pink. The toes and fingers were lovely and pink and warm and so obviously all the bandages were then applied. Terry was kept asleep and transferred to the intensive care unit.
TARA BROWN:
11:37 Terry woke to find his very relieved parents, Tam and Trang, by his side. Within days, as this home video shows, this fragile figure was as mobile as he could be.
TARA BROWN:
11:51 Q: How did you react to know that you had had both your hands put back on and your foot put back on?
TERRY:
11:57 I was really, really happy that it was recovering and the doctor say it would be OK.
TARA BROWN:
12:07 Q; Did you think they'd be able to do it?
TERRY:
12:09 A: Yeah.
NATSOT TAM VO:
12:10 There's a lot of people out there sending you card and wishing you well.
TARA BROWN:
12;14 For the first week, Terry's recovery was beyond expectation. And then, bad news his foot began to die. It would need to be amputated.
DR ROBERT LOVE:
12:24 If you can just imagine the muscles then really died from the inside out so that the skin was still alive, the blood vessel was still flowing but the foot was very slowly becoming crippled.
TARA BROWN:
12:35 Q:When Dr Love came in and said, "We have a problem with your foot?"
TERRY: Yes.
TARA BROWN:
12:41 How did you feel about that?
TERRY:
12:43 Um, okay, because they say it might, it might stay alive and it may not stay alive, so, I just hoped it would stay alive and then when they say, "Oh, take my foot off and put a prosthesis on, you'll have your leg faster and you can run fast sooner," I said, "Yeah, I would like to have that."
NATSOT NURSE:
13:09 Okay, and swing your legs around this way, wiggle around this way. So we need to get your arms up there. Can you do a hop for me and hop your body in closer. Good boy.
TARA BROWN:
13:21 A fortnight after his accident and this is Terry's first step into a specially designed frame to help him walk again.
NATSOT NURSE:
13:27 Are you okay? Do you want to lie down for a bit?
TERRY: Yes.
NATSOT NURSE: Yep, okay.
TARA BROWN:
13:33 In our week with Terry, this strong-willed boy went from an exhausting first try...
NATSOT NURSE:
13:36 You tell us when you've done enough and you want to go back, okay?
TARA BROWN:
13:40 to taking on and beating the hospital corridor.
NATSOT NURSE:
13:43 Do you need a rest? No, you're okay?
TERRY:
13:46 I need to hop, I need to hop.
NATSOT NURSE:
13:47 Okay, let's hop, hop, hop.
TARA BROWN:
13:50 In the next couple of weeks Terry will be fitted with his prosthetic leg. The movement in his hands may take a lot longer.
TARA BROWN:
14:00 Q: Can you feel the ends of your fingers yet?
TERRY:
14::02 Ah, yes. Pins and needles.
TARA BROWN:
14:07 So if you were to close your eyes and I was to touch your ring finger would you know I was touching your ring finger?
TERRY:
14:14 Yeah, because I don't know cold or hot or anything on my finger, but I just know I'm touching something.
NATSOT NURSE:
14:25 Last month he went for a count of three. Ready, set, go.
TERRY:
14:29 Ten.
NATSOT NURSE:
14:30 No, 10's too hard.
TARA BROWN:
14:32 Do you expect him to be able to make a fist one day, to be able to write, to be able to use a knife and fork?
DR ROBERT LOVE:
14:39 I am hopeful that he will be able to do. I'm very guarded in my optimism because it really depends so much on, you know, his dedication to his own hand therapy. I think we're very fortunate to have a very, very positive individual.
TERRY:
14:53 (Sings) "I feel good, so good so good, so good... "
TARA BROWN:
15:07 It's hard to imagine that anyone could be in such good spirits, confined to hospital with such a long, hard recovery ahead, but then we're not Terry Vo. And it's his pluckiness that's affected so many already.
GUY SEBASTIAN:
15:24 How ya goin', Terry? It's nice to meet you, matey.
TARA BROWN:
15:27 Like pop idol Guy Sebastian, who dropped by for a chat...
GUY SEBASTIAN:
15:30 So you like boxing?
TERRY:
15:32 Yep.
TARA BROWN:
15:32 a tour of the wards and a grilling on kid's hospital radio.
TERRY:
15:36 What address do you live at in Sydney?
GUY SEBASTIAN:
15:41 What address do I live at? I live in a place called Palm Beach. Can I ask you a question?
TERRY: Yes.
GUY SEBASTIAN:
15:48 Do you have a crush on any of the nurses?
TERRY: No!
TARA BROWN:
15:58 You wonder if in the quiet moments Terry thinks about the enormity of what he faces. Certainly you get a sense his parents, Tam and Trang, do. These refugees from Vietnam, who run a small business in Perth, have worked hard all their lives, but perhaps their biggest struggle is coming to terms with what's happened to their only child. Terry remains philosophical beyond his years.
TERRY:
16:31 Now I know how brave I am and how positive and happy I am to be alive and to have all my hands back.
TARA BROWN:
16:46 And to learn that about yourself, what's that like?
TERRY:
16:50 Um, really exciting and pretty cool, yeah.
16:59 Ends