Centres

Patient Success Stories

Each year, thousands of patients and families from across the United States and beyond travel to Boston Children's Hospital to seek treatment for complex diseases and conditions. All of our patients are unique, but their stories tend to have a lot in common: a serious health problem, doctors and nurses collaborating from half a world away, the remarkable determination of children and families -- and a happy ending.
Here are some of our most memorable recent success stories:
Craniosynostosis turns a Costa Rican family into football fans
When Marcel was diagnosed with craniosynostosis as a baby, his parents decided to have him treated far from home at Boston Children's Hospital. After surgery and a year of wearing a helmet, Marcel is thriving.

From Bahrain to Boston for very early onset IBD care

Gassen Boabed from Bahrain had little-to-no appetite, was slow to gain weight and had painful bowel movements and diarrhea. Gassen's parents packed up their family and traveled 6,400 miles from their homeland to Boston Children's. Today, with the help of Boston Children's Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center, Gassen is back on track and continues to thrive.
Solving a Newborn's Rare Bladder Problem
A boy is born in Greece with bladder exstrophy, a rare urological condition that affects roughly 1 in every 40,000 babies. Deeply concerned, his parents consult experts in their home country and opt to seek care at Boston Children's Hospital, which handles up to six such cases each year in its specialized bladder exstrophy program
Mexican teen battles metastatic liver cancer with his family by his side Three years ago, Manuel Sanchez Paniagua was diagnosed with an aggressive liver cancer that would end up spreading to other areas of his body, including his brain. Manuel left his home in Mexico City to battle this rare metastatic cancer at Dana-Farber/Boston Children's.