Johnstown boy born with 7-pound growth on head undergoes surgery in Boston

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — A Johnstown family was willing to do anything it took to find a hospital willing to perform surgery on their son who was born with a 7-pound growth on his head.

The growth, called encephalocele, was a portion of Owen Sheridan's brain that had grown outside his skull.

After Owen was born, doctors at the hospital told his parents, Kevin and Jen Sheridan, that they were unable to perform the necessary life-saving surgery.

The Sheridans contacted several hospitals before finding doctors at Boston's Children's Hospital willing to perform the surgery. Mark Proctor, MD, and John Meara, MD, DMD, performed the surgery that saved Owen's life.

"They worked a miracle on our child," Kevin Sheridan told WHDH in Boston. "They did what no other hospital that we could contact was willing to do."

The surgery, which took about seven hours, removed the growth.

"There's another force that's acting here. It's God's hand carrying out this kind of thing. There's no scientific medical explanation," Kevin Sheridan said.

Owen hasn't completely recovered yet, but doctors said having his parents hold him will help him.

"I think Owen still has a bit of a long road ahead but the fact that they're able to treat him now like a normal baby and hold him is really gratifying," Mark Proctor, a neurosurgeon at Boston Children's Hospital, told WHDH.

The Sheridans are planning on returning home to Johnstown next week.

"It was amazing to see without the encephalocele on his head. It was breathtaking to finally hold him and cuddle him," Jen Sheridan said.

WPXI