ORLANDO, Fla. – A 12-year-old boy from Seattle underwent an emergency nine-hour-long brain surgery during a vacation to Orlando, according to Orlando Health.
In a release, a spokesperson from Orlando Health said that the boy, Anish Srivastava, suffered from arteriovenous malformation (AVM), a high-risk tangle of blood vessels in the brain.
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Srivastava was originally scheduled for surgery in January back in his home city of Seattle to remove the condition, but his family took a trip to Orlando in December ahead of the procedure, the release shows.
While Srivastava was at a theme park, the AVM ruptured, causing a massive brain bleed, extreme pain and loss of feeling on one side of Srivastava’s body, according to the hospital.
Srivastava was brought to Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, where neurosurgeons then performed a nine-hour brain surgery to save his life, Orlando Health stated.
“Anish’s surgery was long, but our goal was to keep him safe while taking the pressure off his brain and removing the complex brain AVM and associated aneurysm,” said Chief of Pediatric Neurosurgery Samer Elbabaa. “What matters most is that the immediate danger of this AVM rupturing again is down to 0%.”
According to the Orlando Health, Srivastava remained in critical condition at the hospital for several weeks, eventually regaining some of his strength, putting together small phrases, smiling and even laughing.
Radhika Srivastava, the boy’s mother, told News 6 that her son underwent two surgeries, totaling 11 hours altogether. Being so far from Seattle, the family said medical staff at Arnold Palmer helped make them feel closer to home.
The boy was later cleared to return to his home state, and he flew back to Seattle on a medical flight on Jan. 11.
“I’m excited to be home with family and our close friends to celebrate Anish’s birthday and life,” Radhika Srivastava said. “The worst is behind him, and we’re going to celebrate every milestone.”
She added that recovery is expected to take anywhere from six months to a year.
“Today, he took his first step, and you know, holding the rails, and he walked with the help of his therapist, a couple of steps,” Radhika Srivastava said. “I asked him, ‘How did that feel?’ and he said a sense of normalcy.”
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