European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 20, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday May 20, 1989 the stars and stripes Page 5 surgeons successful Reaf Fach boy s Skull Phoenix a surgeons cat Tach cd a 10-year-old boy s Skull to his spine after his head was nearly pulled off in a bicycle Accident. Doctors said they arc confident Timo thy Mathias of Glendale will regain most of his faculties and walk out of the Hospi Tal. He was listed in serious but stable condition thursday at St. Joseph s hos Pital and medical Center. The rare five hour operation per formed april 26 at Barrow neurological Institute on the Hospital grounds was made even More difficult by the presence of a Golf Ball size blood clot at the top of the spinal column doctors said. He s an absolute Miracle child. By All rights he should be dead said Barrow medical director Robert Spetzler. Timmy was on his Way to school april 21 when he Rode his bicycle into the path of a pickup. He was dragged about 15 feet and his Skull was pulled away from his neck vertebrae. Only muscle and ligaments held his head onto his spine. Kerry Mathias the boy s Mother said i was told he had Only a 5 percent Chance of surviving the operation. It s miraculous that they were Able to do All this work in one  surgeons said Only 18 similar trauma cases have been recorded. Twelve sur Vived but none of the cases involved blood clots. Timmy can move his left Side and is beginning to move the right Side of his body. Although nerve tissue cannot re generate doctors say that the nerves May form new connections to compensate for damaged neural pathways. He May walk with a Limp but months Down the line he will be walk ing said or. Harold re Kate chief of podiatric neurosurgery. Spicl Ler said emergency medical tech Timothy mat Liias is visited by his Mother. Kerry As he recuperate from a rare operation that real ached his injured head. Nicias saved the child s life by recognizing the severity of his injuries and taping him to a Board to immobilize him. One millimetre movement of the boy s head in relation to his spinal column would have been fatal Spetzler said. Spetzler said the six surgeon team Dis covered the massive blood clot just above the Back of the Throat Only be cause they used an experimental Low strength magnetic resonance in Agar to scan for injuries. A Normal image could not be used because the boy s Metal life support sys tem would have interfered with the magnetic Field used to generate images. The clot was drained through an Inci Sion at the neck. Doctors said the boy would have died if the clot had not been discovered before the reattach Cal. Or. Volkir sonntag director of the spinal Cord injury unit at Barrow said he then inserted a 6-Inch, a shaped steel Brace to hold the Skull in place. The Brace covered with Bone marrow from Timmy s hip will remain in his head and restrict rotation about 50 per cent. Doctors expect the marrow to hard in and cover the Brace. Kill b-2 bomber urges former Dod official by the Washington Post Washington the defense department s for Mer procurement chief said the air Force b-2 stealth bomber program should be killed because of exorbitant costs Sloppy Quality control and poor manage ment by Northrop corp. Robert u. Costello who left the Pentagon May 12 As undersecretary for acquisitions said the Long Range bombers Likely will Cost at least $600 million each. But he said development of the aircraft is in such Early stages that the air Force today might not be Able to calculate the True costs. Comollo in the most critical statement yet by a Pentagon official involved in the b-2 program said in an interview that Northrop s Quality controls on the de clop Mcnol and production of the planes Are terrible and improved Little Between official visits to the Plant in the last 18 months. Thomas v. Jones Northrop s chief executive offi cer defended the bomber in a speech to company stockholders wednesday saying it has achieved unprecedented technical  there have been problems to overcome As you might expect in an extraordinary new aircraft system Jones said adding that while some problems have caused delays there have been no show  although former defense Secretary Frank c. C a Lucci dismissed proposals by costello to kill the pro Gram the new Pentagon chief Dick Cheney has recommended that production of the radar evading bombers be slowed by at least a year while he reviews its costs and technical problems. Cheney has said be believes there Are big unanswered questions involving the plane s costs and technical problems and said there is a lot of work to do before officials can assess the costs. He is scheduled to appear before the House armed sen ices com Mittee june 7 to address the problems. Air Force officials have said the stealth bomber rep resents revolutionary Aerial warfare and is needed to carry . Strategic forces into the 21 is Century. Costello said be believes the military docs not need the new bomber in View of its extensive existing Arsenal of missiles submarines and bombers. The air Force has spent $15 billion on the b-2 and has six aircraft in various stages of construction for initial flight tests. Officials said they expect the first flight within the next two months at least a year behind schedule. Costello and armed services committee chairman rep.  Aspin d-wis., have said they believe the bomber could end up costing far More than the estimated $79 billion for 132 aircraft about $600 million each. In the stars and stripes 40 years ago today. May 20, 1949 a three Western military governments sent a protest to the soviet commander in Berlin accusing the soviets of violating the blockade end ing agreement by refusing to allow Allied trucks Access to Berlin during the night. 30 years ago foday. May 20, 1959 at a meeting in Geneva soviet foreign minister Andrei Gro Myko accused the British and French of trying to impose a Versailles like treaty on Germany. 20 years ago foday. May 20, 1969 time trials for the Indianapolis motor Speedway s 500-mile memorial Day race were washed out making it the first time in the history of the 58 year old race that qualification races were cancelled because of rain. 0 years ago foday. May 20, 1979 president Carter announced that any substantial Senate Amend ment of the strategic arms limitation treaty would be unacceptable to his administration and the soviet Union. Grand jury frees father in death of comatose son Chicago a a Cook county grand jury refused to indict a Man who disconnected his brain damaged comatose son from life support and held Hospital workers at gunpoint until the boy died authorities said. Rudy Linares 23, of Cicero was charged by the state s attorney s office with murder in the april 26 death of his 15-month-old son. Samuel. But after the grand jury action the stale s attorney s office announced thursday it would not prosecute the charge. I m glad it s More or less behind me now Linares said. "1 want to thank everybody that sent me cards letters their prayers moral  Linares pleaded guilty to a Mise Meanor charge of unlawful use of weapon and was Scanlen cd by circuit judge Robert Baston to one year conditional discharge meaning he will serve no time in jail said Dan Mccullough spokesman for stale s attorney Cecil Partice. Linares son had been in an irreversible coma since August when he accidentally swallowed a balloon. Authorities said Linares pulled his son from a life support system at Rush Prysby Tyrian so. Luke s medical Center and holding a .357-Calibcr gun cradled the boy in his arms until the baby died