SeaWorld helicopter crash survivor Nicholas Tadros jokes about having his foot amputated
Nicholas Tadros, the boy who survived the SeaWorld helicopter tragedy, made a heartbreaking joke about having his right foot amputated.
Flanked by his father Simon Tadros and karate teacher Andrew Nasr, the brave 10-year-old gave a television interview two months after tragedy claimed the lives of his mother Vanessa and three others.
The western Sydney boy has been hospitalized since the helicopter he was traveling in collided with another in mid-air before plummeting onto a sandbar on the Gold Coast on January 2.
He was in a coma and has undergone about 30 surgeries. Among them was a harrowing five-hour operation to remove Nicholas’s badly damaged right leg from the knee down.
“I was a little nervous at first because I thought they were going to get a chainsaw and cut it down, from Bunnings Warehouse,” he told A Current Affair’s Allison Langdon.
Flanked by his father, Simon Tadros, and karate teacher Andrew Nasr, the brave boy gave his first television interview two months after the traumatic helicopter crash.
Tadros said he had lost count of all the operations and procedures his son had undergone as he discussed the initial stages when Nicholas was on life support.
‘Does that mean he was half dead?’ Nicholas asked.
Despite recovering and eager to return home, the young man admitted that a normal day at the hospital, even 10 weeks after the accident, still involves waking up and vomiting.
But Nicholas told Langdon that he was looking forward to a McDonald’s meal as his body slowly came back on track.
“My kidney has woken up, yes, I’m going to Maccas for lunch,” he said.
“Dude, that’s amazing…everyone wants you to get better,” Langdon said.
“I want to get better too,” Nicholas replied.
Nicholas’s father, Simon Tadros, who has been at his son’s bedside every day since the devastating accident, held his son’s hand during the emotional interview.
Sea World crash survivor Nicholas Tadros (pictured left with his father Simon), 10, has undergone 30 operations, including one last month that removed his right foot.
He waved to the cameras, giving them a brave smile and a thumbs up as he thanked everyone for their overwhelming support and prayers.
‘Thank you Australia, I’m getting better now,’ he said.
Mr. Tadros told Langdon that it was priceless to see his son smile and asked Nicholas if the boy would always be his right hand man.
He revealed that it had been a “daily struggle” grieving for his wife while at his son’s bedside in hospital, but said the least he could do was be there for Nicholas.
The grieving husband shared last month the last moment he had with his wife Vanessa and Nicholas before the doomed plane took off.
The family had been on the Gold Coast for a well-deserved vacation.
“I just gave them a hug and a kiss and said, ‘Enjoy it… have fun,'” she recalled.
Nicholas Tadros (pictured), 10, said he was well enough to have McDonald’s now that his kidneys had “woke up” in a segment to be broadcast nationwide next week.
The grieving husband shared last month about the last moment he had with his wife Vanessa and Nicholas (pictured) before the doomed plane took off.
‘I’ll see you when you come back down.’
The doting father said he didn’t join the couple because of his fear of heights.
Minutes later, Mr. Tadros recalled hearing a “big bang” and could only watch in horror as the aircraft collided with another helicopter in the air.
The tragic incident claimed four lives, including Nicholas’s mother Vanessa Tadros, 36, UK newlyweds Ron and Diane Hughes and pilot Ash Jenkinson, 40.
Tadros remembered the moment when the detectives had told him the terrible news that his wife had died.
“Those were the worst words I’ve ever heard in my life,” he said.
‘I was terrified. I lost my wife. Losing my son too, that’s my whole life shattered, they’re all gone.
Nicholas was on the doomed joy flight that collided with another helicopter in the air before plummeting onto a sandbar (pictured) on the Gold Coast on January 2.
Tadros said his son was “keeping his spirits up” despite “still struggling from day to day”.
“He’s still trying to understand what really happened to him,” he said.
Mr. Tadros had previously disclosed the full extent of his son’s injuries.
“She broke almost everything, top to bottom, you know, her arms, her legs, her sternum, her hips, her thighs, her legs, her arms, her ribs, her lungs collapsing,” Tadros said.
“The only thing that I think he didn’t really break was his right arm. How he survived is a miracle.