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It’s an odd thing to say that a horrific accident could actually save someone’s life, but that’s exactly what happened to a little boy who loves motocross.
When 10-year-old Alex Ciciretti flipped over the handlebars of his motocross bike and had to be airlifted to the hospital, he and his family had no idea that this accident would reveal something much scarier.
Doctors discovered an AVM, arteriovenous malformation, in Alex’s brain that would have killed him if left untreated.
Watch the moment pediatric neurosurgeon, Dr. Samer Elbabaa, makes the discovery of a fatal brain hemorrhage in the player above.
His parents had no idea. There were no warning signs or symptoms.
“There is a chance that most doctors wouldn’t even attempt the surgery and just leave it as it is,” says Alex Ciciretti, Sr., Alex’s dad. “Which to me is, I couldn’t live with that. Because it’s a ticking time bomb in his head.”
Alex was able to get life-saving surgery and is back on the motocross track doing what he loves.
“It’s what he wants to do. I offer him to play soccer. It’s a lot easier to play soccer, baseball, but he says, ‘No.’ He wants to ride dirt bikes.”