Abby Jack – San Antonio, TX
When David Jimenez, M.D., F.A.C.S., looked at the CT scan of 6-month-old Abby’s brain, what he saw was “almost hopeless.” Abby’s mother Rachel had suffered a grand mal seizure while driving and ran head-on into a tree. Abby, who was strapped into her car seat in the back, was taken to the emergency room, where the pediatrician found bleeding in her head. She was immediately sent to the level I trauma center at University Hospital, where Dr. Jimenez was waiting. The blood clot on top of Abby’s brain was pushing her brain to the other side, a condition that left little chance for optimism. But Jimenez lives by the motto, “You never give up on a baby’s brain.” And he didn’t. After an incredibly long journey filled with multiple surgeries, Abby is walking, talking and recently celebrated her third birthday. While Jimenez says “Abby is as close to a miracle as you can get,” her family credits Jimenez and his team for their miracle, saying, “we will forever be in his debt.”