Meet Oliver

Looking at this energetic toddler today, you’d never guess he required lifesaving surgery just five days after his premature birth.

Oliver had an emergency delivery seven weeks before his due date and immediately turned blue. His parents were told he had a horrifying 1% chance of survival, and he was transferred to Seattle Children’s for intensive care. The cause of Oliver’s problems turned out to be a fist-sized tumor in his left lung that threatened to suffocate him.

When he was only 5 days old, Oliver needed surgery to remove the mass and improve his breathing. But he was too sick and fragile to move to the operating room, so his care team mobilized and performed the surgery at his bedside in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

It was an extraordinary measure for an extraordinary baby, and Oliver improved immediately. Less than two weeks after his surgery, he was breathing on his own and was able to return to his local hospital to be closer to his family. And at 4 weeks old – still nearly three weeks before his expected due date – Oliver went home.

Today, Oliver loves walking, talking, climbing and wrestling with his siblings. Although he initially faced unthinkable odds, his family will always remember how his fighting spirit – combined with Seattle Children’s expert care – gave him a fighting chance.