Gold Coast Touch Association player Jaxon Milford rushed to Brisbane hospital for emergency surgery

The life of a 16-year-old touch football star from the Gold Coast has been saved after the coaching team made a crucial intervention during a Junior State Touch Football Championships game. READ THE INCREDIBLE STORY >>

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A COACHING team’s “gut” instinct to bench a rising teenage touch football star - who no one knew had bleeding on the brain - has saved his life, a neurosurgeon says.

Gold Coast Touch Association player Jaxon Milford was supposed to compete in the Junior State Touch Football Championships in Hervey Bay on July 10 but had been suffering from headaches just hours earlier.

The 16 Boys manager Yvette Teika said her husband and team coach, Mahuta “Hoots” Teika, decided to bench the talented 16-year-old, calling it a “gut decision”.

Gold Coast Touch Association player Jaxon Milford was flown to a Brisbane hospital for emergency surgery after suffering bleeding on the brain. Picture: Supplied.

Jaxon’s mother Rachel Milford said after the game and while driving back to their accommodation, Jaxon began “screaming with excruciating pain”.

“We drove straight to the Hervey Bay hospital where he was seen to straight away. After a CT scan we were told he was bleeding on his brain,” Ms Milford.

“He began going downhill very quickly and they put him into an induced coma and intubated him.

“Before we knew it, we were on a care flight helicopter to Brisbane for surgery. About an hour in the flight, his heart rate dropped to almost nothing.

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Gold Coast Touch Association player Jaxon Milford was rushed by helicopter from Hervey Bay to a Brisbane hospital for emergency surgery for bleeding on the brain. Picture: Supplied.

“They (paramedics) were pumping him with medication and they said it was an indication the bleed got bigger.

“Jaxon was scheduled for surgery on the Sunday morning, but when that happened, they radioed ahead and rushed him straight into surgery.

“The top neurosurgeon said if he had have gone on that field he would have died. It’s a miracle he is alive.

“The doctors couldn’t stress enough how lucky he was. We are eternally grateful to the coaching team because they literally saved his life.”

Ms Milford said Jaxon suffered from a concussion about six weeks earlier while playing rugby union but a CT scan at the time came back normal.

She said Jaxon stopped all physical activity and stayed home from school for two weeks before being cleared by his general practitioner to play sports again.

It wasn’t until Jaxon’s emergency surgery that the Milford’s discovered he had an arachnoid cyst in his brain.

“He had it since birth and the cyst was the cause of the bleeding. Any knock to the head will make it bleed.”

Ms Milford said her son, was recovering and his doctors “have been amazed by how well he has done”.

“It will be a long road and there are some heartbreaking consequences with Jax no longer being able to play contact sport, but he is alive and that is the main thing.”

He represented the Gold Coast for the Gold Coast Touch Association and Gold Coast District Rugby Union Cyclones under 16 team. He was a runner representing Queensland at the national championships in Sydney for the past four years.

Jaxon played rugby union for Helensvale Hogs and on Tuesday morning - and received the bittersweet news he was accepted into the under 16 trials for the Queensland Reds rugby union team.

His mother added: “The doctors and the whole medical system between Hervey Bay, the care flight helicopter and the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital were amazing.

“Thank you to everyone for your well wishes, love and support. It means the world to us.”

A fundraiser has been organised by Melissa Vayro to help Jaxon and his family during recovery. More than $7000 has already been raised, smashing the $5000 goal. To donate, visit gofundme.com

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