Overview

• After an initial flu diagnosis in Lubbock, the boy deteriorated within hours, losing the ability to walk, speak, and breathe on his own.
• Imaging revealed a bleeding brainstem cavernous malformation, and doctors warned of possible lifelong ventilator and feeding-tube dependence.
• His mother located neurosurgeon Dr. Jacques Morcos online, who reviewed scans and urged an urgent transfer to UTHealth Houston.
• Morcos and pediatric neurosurgeon Dr. Manish Shah performed a roughly four-hour surgery, and the child was soon awake, speaking, and breathing unaided.
• Six weeks later he returned home, celebrated his seventh birthday, started second grade, and was cleared to resume baseball.