Unborn Baby Removed From Womb To Receive Life-Saving Surgery, Then Doctors Put Him Back

Heather Riggleman

This is an absolutely incredible story about saving an unborn baby through the use of technology as an unborn baby was removed from the womb to receive life-saving surgery, then doctors put him back. 

Sam Drinnon had felt blessed to be having another child. She was excited to be expanding her family and welcoming her second child into the world. Her pregnancy seemed to be going great until doctors found a mass inside her son’s heart during an ultrasound.  

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Sam learned her son Rylan would need surgery at 26 weeks of pregnancy. And this meant her unborn baby would be removed from the womb to undergo a risky procedure.

The day Sam received the news, she prayed God would protect her baby. She deeply feared she was going to lose him. She vividly remembers calling her husband Dave and saying, “A lot of emotions came very quickly. I thought I was going to lose my baby, but the doctors said they would get me to the best team to get it taken care of.”

RELATED: Unbelievable Surgery In Womb Saves Triplets From Life-Threatening Disease

Rylan’s medical team included Dr. Cass who said Rylan’s condition was very rare. In fact, it was so rare he said,  “We see this condition in less than one in 100,000 pregnancies. These tumors can occur in the central portion of the chest, outside of the pericardial sac, which surrounds the heart, or they can be on the inside. Rylan’s was on the inside, which is a worse situation as you might imagine.”

Unborn Baby Removed From Womb For Operation

The only way to save Rylan was to have him undergo a three-and-a-half-hour surgery at 26 weeks of pregnancy. Surgeons opened Sam’s womb and “partially removed” Rylan. Once the doctors were able to gain access to Rylan’s chest and heart, they were able to easily remove the tumor from his heart. 

Once the tumor was removed, they repaired the rest of his heart before tucking him back inside his mother’s womb. Not only was the surgery a success, Rylan got to meet his parents ten weeks later after his mother gave birth. 

Dr. Cass was thankful and proud of his team. “I am very proud of our talented congenital heart surgery and fetal surgery teams that integrated seamlessly to successfully perform a complex lifesaving fetal surgery,” he said.

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Today, Rylan is a happy, healthy, and thriving baby boy. His story is a miraculous story that proves all life, no matter how small, born or unborn deserves a fighting chance. We praise God for the latest advances in technology and for saving this precious life.

WATCH: Unborn Baby Removed From Womb For Surgery, Then Put Back

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h/t: Life News

Featured Image Credit: Facebook/Charles Kehinde Alasholuyi


Heather Riggleman is a believer, wife, mom, author, social consultant, and full-time writer. She lives in Minden, Nebraska with her kids, high school sweetheart, and three cats who are her entourage around the homestead. She is a former award-winning journalist with over 2,000 articles published. She is full of grace and grit, raw honesty, and truly believes tacos can solve just about any situation. You can find her on GodUpdates, iBelieve, Crosswalk, Hello Darling, Focus On The Family, and in Brio Magazine. Connect with her at www.HeatherRiggleman.com or on Facebook.  

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