Family Travels to Cleveland Clinic for Surgery to Repair Birth Defect in the Womb

Doctors diagnosed Justin and Kimmie McCaw’s unborn son with a severe case of spina bifida in June 2019. They were devastated when doctors in their hometown (near Tulsa, OK) and doctors in Texas couldn’t do anything to stop it from progressing.

Without interventional treatment, their son could have paralysis, brain damage, seizures or blindness. Justin reached out to doctors at Cleveland Clinic for a second opinion. Two hours after receiving Kimmie’s medical scans, Darrell Cass, MD, director of fetal surgery, called Justin and said he could perform the procedure to help repair spina bifida.

Dr. Cass and the clinical team performed a successful surgery on July 24, 2019. It reversed the brain damage that presented itself before the procedure, and the back of Tyler’s brain returned to normal. Almost two months later, Kimmie gave birth via C-Section to baby Tyler James McCaw.

Read more of the McCaws’ story here.