UHealth Patient Graduates After Life-Saving Brain Surgery
After a rare brain infection left 19-year-old Daniel Alexis in a coma, a UHealth neurosurgical team performed life-saving interventions that led to a remarkable recovery and a hospital graduation.
Cheers echoed through the halls of UHealth Tower. Nurses, physicians and hospital leaders waved University of Miami themed green-and-orange pom-poms as 19-year-old Daniel Alexis was wheeled down the hall in his cap and gown. While Daniel could not attend his high school ceremony in person, his school and UHealth — University of Miami Health System made sure he would still be part of it. From inside the hospital, he watched the livestream alongside members of his care team and connected in real time as his classmates crossed the stage.
Months earlier, such a moment felt unimaginable.
In late December, Daniel missed his high school basketball practice. His coach notified his mom, Lina Alexis, who was at work at the time. When no one could reach Daniel by phone, Lina came home to find Daniel unconscious. She called 911 and Daniel was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital. Upon arrival, he remained in a comatose state.
“It was tough,” said Lina. “I don’t think there was any percentage for him to be alive.”
Rare Infection Requires Aggressive Neurosurgical Intervention
He was eventually airlifted to UHealth Tower, where his prognosis remained dire. Neither pupil responded, indicating severe brain injury. However, a medical team led by neurosurgeon Ashish Shah, M.D., discovered that a rare and dangerous infection known as Pott’s Puffy tumor had spread from his sinuses to his brain. The condition erodes the bone and forms an abscess in the brain. It can be fatal, if not treated aggressively.
Dr. Shah’s knowledge and training in treating the condition in younger patients gave Daniel a glimmer of hope.
“Understanding the unique pathology of this condition is critical,” said Dr. Shah, who is an assistant professor of neurological surgery at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. “Even when patients present in extremely compromised neurological states, younger individuals have a greater capacity for recovery due to neuroplasticity. That was one of the key factors in our decision to pursue aggressive treatment.”
The Power of Neuroplasticity and Multidisciplinary Care
Dr. Shah and his team moved quickly, performing emergency surgery to remove part of Daniel’s skull to relieve pressure and remove the infection. The procedure, while lifesaving, marked only the beginning of an intensive and uncertain battle. When the infection persisted, a second, more aggressive intervention was required. UHealth ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialists joined the care team to try to eradicate the infection.
“Once we removed the bone and decompressed the brain, we started to see signs of improvement,” said Dr. Shah.
Over the following weeks, Daniel remained in critical condition. His mother remained at his bedside.
Gradually, Daniel began to respond.
He was taken off the ventilator and started breathing on his own. That important milestone, according to his care team, was far from guaranteed. He regained the ability to swallow and began speaking again, slowly finding his voice. Even small movements, like the ability to move his fingers, indicated crucial progress.
Today, Daniel can speak in small phrases. In May, he wished Lina a “Happy Mother’s Day.”
“There were tears in my eyes, but they were not sad tears. They were happy tears,” said Lina. “It’s a miracle. We didn’t know that he would progress like that.”
Lina says that Daniel sometimes blinks his eyes to communicate. She credits Daniel’s care team at UHealth and his basketball coach, Kareem Rodriguez, who rode with her by car to Miami for Daniel’s recovery.
“If he didn’t call me, I wouldn’t have known that Daniel wasn’t at practice,” she said.
Over the course of Daniel’s six-month inpatient stay at UHealth, teammates, friends, classmates and even players from other teams visited or reached out to him and Lina.
About a month ago, surgeons were able to replace the portion of his skull that had been removed, marking another step forward in his recovery.
“He’s now breathing on his own and swallowing, things we weren’t sure he would be able to do,” Dr. Shah said. “With continued rehabilitation and the right therapies, he has a real chance at a meaningful functional recovery.”
A Graduation Celebrated Inside UHealth Tower
That recovery now includes his high school graduation. Daniel watched the ceremony live and saw his mother, Lina, walk across the stage to accept his diploma.
“It’s amazing to see how far you’ve come in the past six months,” Dr. Shah said to Daniel during the celebration. “You are a testament to the strength, resilience and courage we all hope that we can have.”
He also received a second “diploma” from Kymberlee J. Manni, Ph.D., chief executive officer of University of Miami Hospital and Clinics, for graduating from the hospital.
“There were many long nights where we were concerned about what his survival would be like,” said Dr. Manni. “For us to be able to see him, where he can go to rehab to get his life back, there is no greater joy and no greater way to see what your purpose is. He’s like a part of us. This entire team loved him back to health.”
Diploma in hand, Daniel is set to be transferred to the UHealth/Jackson Memorial Health System’s Christine E. Lynn Rehabilitation Center for the next phase of a recovery that will rebuild strength, mobility and independence.
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Tags: brain surgery, Department of Neurological Surgery, Dr. Ashish Shah, Dr. Kymberlee Manni, neurological surgery, neuroscience, neurosurgery, Newsroom