NEW HYDE PARK, Long Island (PIX11) — There aren’t many people who would say thank goodness for COVID. But for one toddler from Long Island, the virus may have actually saved his life.
Alexandra and Michael Long are grateful their son William is okay. The two-and-a-half-year-old toddler is fortunate to be alive. At eight months old, he was diagnosed with COVID, which led to symptoms including a high fever that triggered a seizure.
The concerned parents rushed Williams to Cohen Children’s Medical Center, where he was admitted. An MRI revealed a lesion of the right temporal lobe in February 2021. At first, doctors thought that William’s seizure was brought on by cortical dysplasia, a common condition in babies, where brain cells fail to reach the parts of the brain. However, after a series of follow-up tests, doctors discovered that the lesion had grown into a tumor, the size of an egg in June 2022.
William underwent surgery last December. Dr. Rogers pointed out the hippocampus on each side of the brain (which houses memory). The tumor occurred on William’s Right hippocampus. The empty cavity is filled with fluid after everything is removed. William’s memory is now located on the left side of his brain.
Now William has a clean bill of health, but Doctors will continue to monitor him every six months for the next ten years.
