DENVER (KDVR) — After three hospital stays, six surgeries, three ambulance rides and one medical flight, 7-and-a-half-month-old Leo Boer finally got the chance to go home.
“He’ll get to meet his grandpas and grandmas for the first time,” said Leo’s mom, Jasmine Boer.
Leo was born with esophageal atresia. It’s a rare birth defect where the tube connecting the mouth to the stomach is not complete.
He underwent surgery in South Dakota, but the outcome was devastating.
Boer set out to find the best doctor to help her baby boy. It’s how she landed in Denver to meet with Dr. Steve Rothenberg, a pediatric general surgeon at Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children.
His team answered Leo’s family’s prayers.
“How do you thank someone who saved your son’s life?” Boer said.
Rothenberg fixed Leo’s esophagus in a procedure he gave a 50-50 shot. Now, Leo should be able to live a normal, healthy life — a journey that started Friday.
“It’s bittersweet, because I love seeing Leo every day. I’m very happy he gets to go home,” Rothenberg said.
Leo’s parents look forward to taking their miracle baby back home to Iowa and finally have their family of four, including Leo’s 3-year-old sister, under one roof.
“This is something we have hoped and prayed for for 224 days,” Boer said.