A small mistake turned into a major miracle at the University of Maryland Medical Center—thanks to a slightly off-kilter MRI scan.
Doctors were already treating a woman for a brain tumor when a routine MRI scan took an unexpected turn—literally. The technician accidentally positioned the camera a little too low, and that tiny slip-up revealed something no one expected: a second tumor lurking in her neck.
The second growth had gone undetected, and if it hadn’t been caught when it was, doctors say it could have continued growing and eventually left her paralyzed. Talk about divine timing disguised as human error.
With the diagnosis in hand, surgeons sprang into action, performing two complex tumor removals. But the second one wasn’t a standard procedure—they had to get creative. Using a new surgical technique, doctors accessed the neck tumor through her eye socket. (Yes, you read that right.) The approach, while unconventional and delicate, allowed them to reach the dangerous growth without causing further damage.
The entire operation happened last year, and now, a year later? She’s completely cancer-free.
Medical teams are calling it a miraculous outcome—and a testament to the power of evolving technology, skilled surgical innovation, and a good dose of lucky human imperfection. “If we hadn’t seen it on that scan,” one doctor noted, “we wouldn’t have known it was there until it was too late.”
It’s not often that a mistake leads to a medical breakthrough, but in this case, it quite literally saved a woman’s future mobility—and maybe even her life.
So here’s to second chances, sharp eyes, and the kind of error that gets you a clean bill of health.
