Jun 4, 2006 10:19 am US/Eastern
Children's Hospital Helps Boy With Rare Disease
by Lisa Hughes
BOSTON (CBS4) ―
It's the kind of news that can turn a parent's world upside down in an instant -- word that your child has a potentially debilitating disease.
For Michelle Marengo of Hudson, that news came three years ago, but thanks to Children's Hospital Boston, the future is bright for her eight-year-old son.
Other than the matching scars on either side of his head, David Youngerman looks like any normal 2nd grader. He likes soccer, playing tag with his friends and board games. But those games became difficult when David started having numbness in his arms and legs. "I was scared," said David. "I kept falling and limping."
One day, his legs gave out from underneath him in a convenience store. "It was just so evident that there was something wrong," said David's mother, Michelle Merengo.
David's pediatrician recommended a trip to Children's Hospital Boston.
David had moyamoya, a rare disease that causes narrowing of the blood vessels in the brain. If left untreated, it can lead to stroke.
"They said we happen to have someone here who has pioneered the surgery for this disease," said Merengo.
That's when David met the man who would change his life. Dr. Michael Scott took healthy blood vessels from his scalp and attached them to his brain. "It's just like grafting a new branch onto a tree -- putting it in the ground and waiting for the roots to spread."
Dr. Scott performed the same surgery on 10-year-old Allison Kemp of Baltimore. Now David and Allison have a special bond. The children now send letters back and forth to each other and even went to Disney World together.
Two families, forever joined by a rare disease, and the hospital that gave them another chance.
Children's Hospital does whatever it takes to help kids and save lives. You can support that effort this Wednesday. That's when the CBS4 Kids campaign is holding a special day of giving to benefit the hospital. Phone lines will be open all day to take your donations. You can help Children's Hospital continue its' life saving work and breakthrough research.
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