A MUM has revealed how her baby was born with a cyst the size of a football under his arm – which left the limb at a 90 degree angle.
His mum Christina DiMartino, 34, was told her unborn son, Matteo, had an abnormally large mass located across his chest and left arm, which covered up to 50 per cent of his body, after going for a routine scan at 13 weeks.
Matteo was born with a cyst under his arm the size of a footballCredit: SWNS
The tot was found to have a rare lymphatic malformation – and medics warned he had just a nine per cent chance of making it to birth.
First-time parents Christina and her husband, Franco, 36, an electrician for the Long Island Railroad, in the US, decided not to terminate the pregnancy, but to give their little boy a chance – and their son was born via emergency c-section on 7.17pm on April 17, 2019.
Matteo tipped the scales at 9lbs 3oz, but it’s thought 3lbs of that – one third of his body weight – was down to the huge cyst which covered his side up to his armpit.
It meant the newborn struggled to move his neck and head, couldn’t roll over, sit up, fit into a car seat or baby clothes, and also left him suffering from frequent skin infections.
Franco and Christina DiMartino decided to keep son Matteo after warnings from doctors at a 13-week scanCredit: SWNS
At six months old in October last year, Matteo was operated on by a team of specialists at Cohen Children’s Medical Center in New York to have the cyst removed.
He is now a happy 10-month-old with a bright future, but will need to be monitored as he grows older.
Christina, a special education science teacher from Long Island, said: “We are so proud of Matteo and all he’s been through.
“He’s defied all the odds to not only survive but to thrive. We knew he was going to be born with a huge cyst, but even we were surprised when we saw it for the first time.
