“Boy With Rare Brain Condition Proves Doctors Wrong With Help of High School Football Team” - Dr. Alejandro Berenstein

When Ben Holloway was diagnosed with a rare brain condition about a year ago, doctors weren't sure he was going to live, let alone be able to play football. But one year later, Holloway proved doctors wrong. Ben was taken to the emergency room, where he got a CT scan that showed something was abnormal, and further tests showed that he had a BDAF, an abnormal connection between blood vessels outside and inside the dura, the brain's fibrous covering, proved doctors wrong.

After further research, Ben's parents went to New York City for a second opinion from Dr. Alejandro Berenstein, the doctor who invented the procedure to treat Ben's condition. "He had a consultation on a Friday, and the following Monday, he performed his first surgery on Ben," Holloway said. "Ben's condition was so advanced that he couldn't just do the traditional surgery of opening up his brain. He had to put platinum coils into the fistula first -- into Ben's leg, through the aorta, into the heart, through the neck and then up to the brain." Learn more