Stroke of Luck as GoFundMe Raises $100k for Baby’s Brain Surgery and Family Wins Appeal for Insurance to Cover

In a story that will stretch and strain every heartstring, an East Coast infant is set to undergo a complex brain surgery that will disconnect the left side of his brain from his right side.

This “hemispherotomy” was going to bring financial ruin upon parents Brad and Alyssa Casacci, whose son Cameron was born with a litany of health issues that eventually landed them in the position of needing to basically abandon their son’s left brain half to save the right.

It was going to bring financial ruin because Independent Health, the primary insurer of the Casaccis denied coverage for the surgery.

The story began in September 2024, when Cameron suffered from a blood clot and stroke after exhibiting seizure-like symptoms at just one day old. At Oishei Children’s Hospital in the Buffalo area, he was cared and attended to for 19 days before being discharged with a permanently damaged left brain hemisphere.

It would limit his motor, executive, and speech abilities, but at least their son was alive. Fed via tubes, and subject to intense post-traumatic therapies, Cameron began to meet major milestones until his seizure-like symptoms returned, and he was diagnosed with a form of treatment-resistant infantile epilepsy.

Cameron’s doctor recommended a rare and drastic surgery known as a hemispherotomy. The seizures were occurring in the damaged, left-half of his brain, and they risked damage to his intact right side.

Before the age of 4, the brain’s right side is capable of picking up almost all functions typically done in the left side, among which is language. For this reason, the surgery seemed like their best shot to give their son—not even a year old—any sort of decent future.

The likelihood of medication curing his seizures was only 5%, whereas there was a 92% chance the surgery would bring major quality of life of developmental relief. But there was a problem. Insurance denied their claim because the surgical option they had elected to pursue was out of state in Pennsylvania.

Pediatric neurosurgeons don’t tend to operate on children younger than 18 months old, and the only one prepared to do so was based in the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.

A GoFundMe organized by friends of the Casacci family galvanized people from all around the world, who, according to the organizers, wrote the New York State legislators, wrote to news stations, and shared the story and fundraiser around the globe. Donations piled up until 98% of the $100,000 goal was raised.

Just as Cameron’s stroke and epilepsy seemed like lightning striking the same person twice, the incredible generosity of strangers was just the first in a double stroke of luck.

INSPIRING GOFUNDMES: Heroic Divemaster Rescues Cozumel Divers–and Public Raises $50k to Treat His Injuries

A second appeal letter filed on behalf of the Casaccis succeeded in getting the denial overturned: Independent Health would pay for the surgery.

“The GoFundMe truly exceeded all expectations,” the organizers wrote in an August 12th update. “We knew people would want to help Brad, Alyssa, and Cameron, but nothing could have prepared us for this outpouring of support. The real journey is only beginning, and while the surgery is the first major step toward a seizure-free life for Cameron, the family has years of therapies and treatments following the surgery.”

OTHER STORIES LIKE THIS: Preschool Teacher Spots Symptoms and Tells Parents, Leading to Child’s Early Diagnosis With Rare Disease

The Casaccis have consulted their lawyers and are using the GoFundMe to set up a medical trust for Cameron that will pay for intensive therapy programs, treatments, and home adaptations in the years to come while being protected from taxation.

No one knows what the future holds for this boy who has tottered on the brink for his earliest days, but at least the financial burden on this traumatized family isn’t something they need to carry with them as they face that uncertain, yet far more hopeful, future.

SHARE This Incredible Family Recovery With Your Friends…