Boy, 6, was unable to talk or breathe on his own just hours after being misdiagnosed with flu
Gerrard Kaonga
Featured Image Credit: KCBD
After Witten was misdiagnosed with the flu, his mother became more concerned it was something more serious after his condition worsened.
A 6-year-old boy, Witten Daniel, from Lubbock, Texas, was rushed to the hospital when a mother became fearful for his health.
Doctors told the mother, Casey Daniel that it appeared that he had the flu but things quickly took a turn for the worse.
Within just a few hours, Witten had lost the ability to walk, talk, or breathe on his own, and this understandably terrified his mother.
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Speaking to WAFB, she said: “There are no words to describe how horrifying it is to see your child in that kind of condition.”
Witten then underwent more tests and doctors came back to his mother with a concerning conclusion and diagnosis.
Witten had cavernous malformation, otherwise known as cavernoma.
According to the Mayo clinic, this can very serious and even prove to be fatal.
“Cerebral cavernous malformations (CCMs) are groups of tightly packed, irregular small blood vessels with thin walls", the medical centre said.
“They may be present in the brain or spinal cord. The vessels contain slow-moving blood that's usually clotted.
“CCMs can cause blood to leak in the brain or spinal cord. CCMs may leak blood and lead to bleeding in the brain or spinal cord, known as a hemorrhage. Brain hemorrhages can cause many symptoms, such as seizures.
“Depending on the location, CCMs also can cause stroke-like symptoms such as trouble with movement or feeling in the legs and sometimes the arms.”
Most devastatingly, doctors told Casey that there was little that they could to improve her son’s quality of life, adding that he would be unlikely to ever walk again and would require assistance breathing.
Undeterred by the news, Casey took to researching alternatives on the internet and came across a medical paper written Dr Jacques Morcos, a neurosurgeon just eight hours away in Houston.
Dr Morcos specializes in cavernoma, and hoping against the odds, Casey contacted the doctor and told him about the condition of her son.
The doctor claimed he felt confident he could treat Witten and asked him to be transferred to his surgery so that he and a pediatric neurosurgeon could perform on him.
Hours after surgery began, they came back with good news saying that the operation had been a success.
Witten has since made a great recovery. He is now seven years old, has started second grade, and even been given the clear to return to playing baseball.