Teen reunites with UCSF surgeon who saved him as a fetus, 18 years later

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — It was a reunion 18 years in the making. Last time Dr. Hanmin Lee saw Mason Ellinger, Mason was a fetus fighting for his life.

“I’m actually glad I got to meet you after all these years. It is shocking. All this happened when I was born. I couldn’t remember anything. Now, I’m grateful that I’m here standing,” said Ellinger.

Beside Mason was his mom, dad, and younger sister. All making the trip from Michigan back to San Francisco returning to the place that saved Mason’s life.

“I’m going to get emotional. It was just a difficult situation. He was our first pregnancy. A difficult situation to be told that your baby has an issue,” said Rosemary Ellinger, Mason’s mom.

Doctors found a hole in Mason’s diaphragm while he was still in the womb pushing organs into his chest, preventing his lungs from growing.

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“It’s a very complex disease called congenital diaphragmatic hernia,” said Dr. Lee, Surgeon in Chief at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital.

In Michigan, doctors told Rose that Mason would not survive. At the time, a UCSF trainee in Michigan heard about the case and told the family about the expertise at UCSF.

UCSF was the first place in the world to do the challenging two-step procedure.

“Not only do we have risk to the to the fetus baby, but the mom undergoes risks,” said Dr. Lee. “We put a balloon into the trachea. We do it through a tiny little scope. We look inside the uterus through a tiny little scope. Then we go into the mouth and into the trachea. It’s kind of a tricky thing.”

That balloon helped Mason’s lungs grow. Four weeks later, Dr. Lee removed it, saving Mason’s life before he was born. The reunion brings flashbacks of one of the hardest moments of their lives.

Travis Ellinger said it was a difficult decision, “Is this the right thing to do? Is it not the right thing to do if it is the right thing to do, how are we going to even make this happen? We live across the other side of the country.”

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“I remember being really nervous. But I remember that I felt well supported here and everyone was super compassionate,” said Rosemary Ellinger.

Now, a full circle moment for a patient and the doctor he met before anyone else.

“We talked in the womb,” said Mason Ellinger.

“Yes, It’s true. I told him- you get better,” said Dr. Lee.

Mason’s younger sister said his story has inspired her to help others.

“Seeing the struggles that he had and my parents had just kind of inspired me to go into another field that I can help a lot of more kids like him,” said Isabel Ellinger, Mason’s sister.