Father says his 11-year-old son's headache has become life-threatening

LAS VEGAS (KVVU/Gray News) – A Las Vegas father is warning other parents to keep an eye on their children’s health, even if the symptoms seem pretty basic.

Richard Portillo said an examination of his 11-year-old son for a headache recently left them with an emergency situation and that his son needed brain surgery.

Last week, 11-year-old Elijah was flown from Las Vegas to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City. Doctors performed emergency surgery to remove the 3-centimeter tumor at the base of his skull.

Jack L. Schofield Middle School student Elijah fell at school two months ago and had difficulty standing. When his family took him to the doctor’s office, a staff member evaluated him and determined that he was fine, noting that his blood pressure may have been the cause.

But over the course of two weeks, Elijah’s headaches got to the point where he couldn’t sleep, and that’s when the family took him to the emergency room.

A CAT scan detected a mass in Elijah’s brain.

“The doctor said he had to be flown to Utah,” Portillo said.

Late last week, doctors in Salt Lake City performed a seven-hour surgery.

“I’m so relieved that he made it through the surgery. I’m forever grateful. I feel like the prayers worked 100%,” Portillo said.

The father said they were waiting for news on whether a second surgery was needed.

“The biggest lesson learned for us parents is to react. A lot of people say they’re trying to get out of school or something. This was not the case. He had a life-threatening condition,” Portillo said.

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