While Ben and his dad were looking at T-ball helmets in the sporting goods store, Ben’s mom (my daughter) turned to me with tears in her eyes.  “He’s just like any normal kid,” she said.

A year ago, we didn’t know what lay in store for our little guy.  Only three years old, he was facing an uncertain future. Born with a vascular malformation in his brain ( a dural AV fistula), he needed a delicate and risky operation. Without the operation, he would die.  At that point the only visible sign of the problem was a slightly protruding eye, but we were told that he would become progressively impaired and would not live unless the fistula was repaired.

After two brain surgeries in New York last May, Ben had an amazing recovery and is now about to complete his first year in school.  He is finishing up his year in…