Grandmother warns against forward-facing car seats after horror crash causes 'internal decapitation' of child

A grandmother makes a heartfelt plea urging against the use of forward-facing car seats after her two-year-old granddaughter was 'internally decapitated' in a horror crash. Aniyah Bennett's skull detached from her spine after the vehicle she was traveling in with her mom Kimberly Bennett, 28, struck a brick pillar and overturned. While her mom escaped with scratches, Aniyah was airlifted to hospital where doctors determined that the impact of the smash had 'internally decapitated' her. Internal decapitation or atlanto-occipital dislocation, is an injury fatal in 70 per cent of cases where the spinal column detaches from the skull base. Surgeons successfully managed to reattach Aniyah's spine but she also suffered a complete tear of her C5 nerve in the accident and has lost movement in her right arm. The youngster, now four, was also forced to wear a 'halo' on her head for five months to hold her bones in place, had to relearn how to walk and remains partially paralyzed. Her grandmother and guardian Tanya Bender, 48, said that had she been in a rear-facing car seat instead of a forward-facing one, she would have not been hurt. Rear-facing seats protect a child's head, neck and back during frontal crashes, however Aniyah was in a front-facing seat so her head and neck jolted forward upon impact. Bender said that Aniyah’s injuries will limit her for the rest of her life. "Now she has limited feeling in her lower left arm and ribcage. Other than that she has no movement or feeling in her arm. "Normal four-year-olds can get up and dress themselves but Aniyah can’t. "She’s really limited in what she does because she has to be so careful with her neck. "She’ll never jump on a trampoline or play on a team sport or be a cheerleader. "It makes me so sad that she’ll never be able to ride horses or do things other children can. "She can’t even climb up the ladder to go down the slide at the park, it breaks my heart. "I truly believe that Aniyah wouldn't have suffered this injury had she been facing backward."