Texas Boy's Life Saved After Mom's Google Search Leads to Rare Brain Surgery

When 6-year-old Witten Daniel suddenly lost the ability to walk, talk, or even breathe, his family thought they were about to lose him. What started as a suspected case of flu turned out to be something far more dangerous.

In April, Witten was taken to the hospital with dizziness and a headache. Doctors first said it was the flu, but within a day his condition collapsed. He could no longer move, speak, or breathe on his own and eventually lost consciousness. “There are no words to describe how horrifying it is to see your child like that,” his mother, Casey Daniel, said.

Doctors discovered the real cause: a rare cluster of blood vessels leaking in his brainstem, known as a cavernous malformation or cavernoma. While it affects about 1 in 500 people, many never show symptoms. But in severe cases, it can cause seizures, bleeding, headaches, vision loss, and paralysis.

Witten’s doctors warned he might never walk again and would need a ventilator for life. Just weeks earlier, he had been playing baseball and was named MVP of his Little League team.

Unwilling to give up, Casey searched online late at night and found an article by Dr. Jacques Morcos, a neurosurgeon at UTHealth Houston. She emailed him, and to her surprise, he quickly replied. After reviewing Witten’s scans, he said surgery was possible and arranged for him to be transferred.

In Houston, Dr. Morcos and pediatric neurosurgeon Dr. Manish Shah carried out a delicate four-hour brain surgery. Against the odds, it worked. Within hours, Witten was awake, breathing without support, and able to talk again.

Six weeks later, he returned home to Lubbock just in time for his 7th birthday. Today, he’s back in school and even playing baseball again. “I want to say thank you to Dr. Morcos and Dr. Shah for letting me see my friends again,” Witten said.