This is an absolutely incredible story about saving an unborn baby through the use of technology as an unborn baby was removed from the womb to receive life-saving surgery, then doctors put him back. Sam Drinnon had felt blessed to be having another child. She was excited to be expanding her family and welcoming her second child into the world.

Her pregnancy seemed to be going great until doctors found a mass inside her son’s heart during an ultrasound. Sam learned her son Rylan would need surgery at 26 weeks of pregnancy. And this meant her unborn baby would be removed from the womb to undergo a risky procedure. The day Sam received the news, she prayed God would protect her baby. She deeply feared she was going to lose him!

She vividly remembers calling her husband Dave and saying, “A lot of emotions came very quickly. I thought I was going to lose my baby, but the doctors said they would get me to the best team to get it taken care of.”Rylan’s medical team included Dr. Cass who said Rylan’s condition was very rare. In fact, it was so rare he said, “We see this condition in less than one in 100,000 pregnancies.

These tumors can be found in the center of the chest, outside of the pericardial sac that surrounds the heart, or inside the pericardial sac. Rylan was on the inside, which is a much more dangerous circumstance.” Rylan could only be saved if he underwent a three-and-a-half-hour surgery at 26 weeks of pregnancy. Rylan was “half removed” by surgeons when they opened Sam’s womb. The surgeons were able to quickly remove the tumor from Rylan’s heart once they gained access to his chest and heart.

They restored the rest of his heart after the tumor was removed before putting him back into his mother’s womb. Rylan met his parents ten weeks after his mother gave birth, and not only was the procedure a success.

Dr. Cass was thankful and proud of his team. “I am very proud of our talented congenital heart surgery and fetal surgery teams that integrated seamlessly to successfully perform a complex lifesaving fetal surgery,” he said. Today, Rylan is a happy, healthy, and thriving baby boy. His story is a miraculous story that proves all life, no matter how small, born or unborn deserves a fighting chance. We praise God for the latest advances in technology and for saving this precious life.