Green Country Family Grateful After Infant Son Receives Lifesaving Surgery

A Green Country couple is especially thankful this holiday season as their son’s surgery was successfully completed before he was even born.

Sunday, November 29th 2020, 9:33 pm



A Green Country couple is especially thankful this holiday season as their son’s surgery was successfully completed before he was even born.

The family was told nobody in Oklahoma could do the risky procedure. As they began to lose hope, the McCaw family was able to keep the faith.

Tyler was diagnosed with Spina Bifida, a defect where a baby's spinal cord doesn't develop properly, causing serious brain damage.

Doing a surgical procedure in utero would be able to reverse the brain damage, but hospitals in Oklahoma told the family they are unable to do the procedure.

The family was then sent to them to Houston, Texas, but doctors said it was impossible to do the surgery because the curvature of his back was greater than 30 degrees, crushing their hopes of fixing Tyler's spine.

"He said there's an 80% chance that he will develop hydrocephalus, he will have brain damage," Justin McCaw, Tyler’s father said. 

Then, luck was finally on their side. Justin stumbled upon an article that said the Cleveland Clinic performed their first Spina Bifida surgery on an unborn child. 

"After I read it, something in me said I need a second opinion," McCaw said. 

The McCaws decided to make the 14-hour drive to Cleveland Ohio for one more look. Doctors there said despite the risks, they could do the surgery, which was all the McCaw's needed to hear.

"Let's do it," Kimmie McCaw, Tyler’s mother said. "There was no question in my mind that this was what we were going to do."

Seven weeks after the successful procedure, Tyler was born at 10:14 at 5.7 pounds, which resembles the birthday and age of the man he was named after: his late grandfather.

"God was preparing us, saying yes thing is going to happen and all that but your son in a way gets to carry on your dad's traditions, your dad's legacy if you will," McCaw said. 

Doctors said Tyler is expected to be able to walk in one to two years. The McCaws hope their story can inspire other families, to never lose faith.

"If we went through all that and here we are today, what is impossible," McCaw said.



logo

Get The Daily Update!

Be among the first to get breaking news, weather, and general news updates from News 9 delivered right to your inbox!

More Like This

November 29th, 2020

March 8th, 2024

March 8th, 2024

March 1st, 2024

Top Headlines

March 29th, 2024

March 29th, 2024

March 29th, 2024

March 29th, 2024