Dominic Pio Gundrum is a lucky little boy. About halfway through her pregnancy, Dominic’s mother learned the infant she was carrying had encephalocele, a decidedly rare birth defect that results in the skull of the infant not closing properly, allowing the child’s brain to grow through the opening. And had little Dominic had the misfortune to have been conceived by different parents, his life might have ended at the hands of a late term abortionist. But Dominic’s parents refused any consideration of ending his life, not even with the knowledge that there existed a very real possibility that Dominic may not even survive birth. But he did. And what happened next is no less than miraculous.

Little Dominic’s parents had no intention of giving up on their precious boy. So they did what many of us do when we need immediate information: they scoured the internet. And, since the birth defect Dominic had was so rare—only about 375 children are born with the defect each year—finding a solution proved difficult. But after an exhaustive search, they found one: Boston Children’s Hospital’s Plastic Surgeon in Chief, Dr. John Meara. But Dr. Meara would soon learn that encephalocele was not baby Dominic’s only challenge. Via examinations, Dr. Meara learned that Dominic suffered a Tessier facial cleft, too. This meant that the two halves of his face and his head did not join during his development, so Dr. Meara would need to develop a plan to address both issues. And address it he did.