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Oh my, what a tragic event for you both! I am amazed & glad he made it through that! Has it occurred to you he has scar tissue from such a sharp item being stuck? It may hurt him to eat anything other than soft foods. Maybe he feels cared he is gonna get something stuck again, thus having you there for comfort while he eats? He may just need very soft foods like baby type foods, mashed potatoes, porridge, super soft pasta? It may hurt him to eat anything that is not super soft, tissue/scar damage can be painful . Just my thoughts. Have you tried leaving applesauce or soft butternut mashed squash for him in his bowls while you are gone to see if he tries to eat by himself. He may just lie the comfort, clearly he is still troubled & traumatized from his life-threatening ordeal. Maybe in time he will gain confidence that he can safely eat by himself , you may just have to be patient. He can't tell you why he is scared of if anything still hurts when he eats.... Please keep us posted

Not quite sure how to break the dependency, but with respect to his food, can you dip his fruit into, say, some quinoa or something blended, present it to him with the new food 'hidden' on the other side of the fruit? You can also purchase freeze dried veggies, pulverize them and dip the fruit into the powdered veggies and offer the fruit pieces in a similar way. I add a combo of flaxseed meal, hemp hearts and chia seeds and sprinkle it onto my flock's banana slices. Super healthy for them. Just a few thoughts as to how to bump up his nutrition. Over time you can hopepfully reintroduce the food as separate very tiny pieces for him to hopefully pick through.