So many times when doctors go to operate on a newborn baby, they realize it’s too late and the worst of the damage is already done. Thirty years ago, fetal surgery was born from this medical frustration. This delicate type of operation allows a surgeon to operate on a baby while still inside his or her mother’s womb. Although extremely risky, for Elijah Leffingwell, it meant a chance to live.

April Leffingwell and her husband Jason learned that there was something wrong with their unborn child during their 20-week ultrasound. The couple learned that a tumor three and a half times bigger than his head was crushing his body and would have surely killed him if it had been left, the Daily Mail reported.

"Thinking that everything was perfect, then finding out that you have something so rare — one in 30,000 and that the chance of survival was 50 percent — it just crushed us," said April in the YouTube clip of Elijah’s Journey. "The tumor kept growing and growing and growing — three and a half times the size of his head. It was just crushing him — he was going into heart failure, lung failure — and if we didn't do it, there was no chance."

The couple were given three choices: end the pregnancy via an abortion, do nothing and risk their son dying, or undergo the fetal surgery. The Leffingwells chose the latter and had the operation done at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). In the surgery, the doctors were able to remove the tumor, but Elijah needed to be born seven weeks premature. Still, the tiny child survived and was able to return home 66 days later.

According to Dr. Scott Adzick at CHOP, Elijah had “beat the odds,” not only surviving the surgery but living with barely any residual symptoms. The Leffingwells hope their story can help inspire other families who may be going through similar situations.