Misdiagnosed as flu, a 6-year-old collapses; a mother's late-night Google search saves his life
What began as a routine illness for 6-year-old Witten Daniel quickly spiraled into a life‑and‑death crisis. He was admitted for dizziness and a headache, and doctors initially blamed the flu. But within 24 hours, he could not walk, talk, or breathe on his own, and he lost consciousness. Casey Daniel recalls the moment in heart‑stopping detail: 'There are no words to describe how horrifying it is to see your child in that kind of condition.' Desperate and with nowhere else to turn, she turned to Google. A late‑night search led her to an article by Dr. Jacques Morcos, a neurosurgeon at UTHealth Houston, who specialized in her son's condition. He urged that Witten be rushed to his facility, a move that would become a lifeline.
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From flu to brain crisis: rapid deterioration and the fight to breathe
Doctors initially treated the illness as the flu, but the situation rapidly worsened. Within a day, Witten could not walk, talk, or breathe on his own, and seizures struck as he lay in a hospital bed. He lost consciousness and needed to be intubated so the medical team could stabilize him while they searched for the cause of his baffling symptoms. Casey remembers the moment as a nightmare: the fear of losing her son was overwhelming as the doctors fought to save him.
The discovery: cavernous malformation in the brainstem, a rare threat
Finally the tests revealed the cause: a cavernous malformation — a rare, potentially deadly cluster of blood vessels leaking inside the brainstem. Roughly one in 500 people is believed to have at least one cavernous malformation. When symptoms do appear, seizures are the most common sign, followed by bleeding and neurological issues such as blurred vision, headaches, weakness, and speech problems. About 20% of cases are genetic, and those patients often develop multiple malformations over their lifetime. With the diagnosis confirmed, Witten was transferred for urgent care at Dr. Morcos’s facility.
Emergency surgery and a miraculous turn: awake, breathing, and talking again
Upon arrival at the new hospital, Witten was rushed into emergency surgery. For four tense hours, Dr. Jacques Morcos and pediatric neurosurgeon Dr. Manish Shah worked to remove the dangerous lesion. The operation was a success. Within hours, Witten was awake, breathing on his own, and talking again. Six weeks later, he returned home to Lubbock for his seventh birthday — and more to celebrate than another year. ‘I want to say thank you to Dr. Morcos and Dr. Shah for letting me see my friends again,’ Witten told KCBD, calling his recovery ‘beautiful.’
Back on the field: second grade, baseball, and a mother's persistence
Today, Witten is thriving in second grade and has been cleared to get back on the baseball diamond. The doctors even set a light condition: the only requirement to playing is to send his parents pictures from the field. Casey and the medical team emphasize how a single, desperate online search—and a family’s courage to reach out—saved a life. If you read only the headlines, you should still understand the arc: a misdiagnosis, a life saved by a parent’s persistence, a miraculous recovery, and a future reclaimed.
