FIT, THE BATTLE OF JERRICK (via Bryan Francoeur):

Pioneering surgery saves baby born 3 months early (CNN, 2/17/05)

The pediatric surgeon who performed open-heart surgery on a one-week-old baby with a heart the size of a grape said Thursday it was "a wonderful feeling" to be able to save his life.

Surgeons at Stanford University's Lucile Packard Children's Hospital believe that Jerrick De Leon, born more than 13 weeks early, is the smallest baby ever to survive an open-heart procedure called an arterial switch.

The hospital said Jerrick is expected to have a normal life, barring any medical complications from his premature birth.

As Brother Francoeur points out, "In Europe he'd have gone up the chimney."

Posted by Orrin Judd at February 18, 2005 8:02 AM