01940_Summer_2019 WEB

08 | 01940
Comeback
kid
BY THOMAS GRILLO
Michelle and Joseph Halpern didn't
know what to expect when their son,
Sam, faced a double leg amputation from
a rare bacterial infection few children
survive.
"We had lots of hopes and dreams,"
said Michelle Halpern. "He has far
surpassed them, he's a very resilient child."
Today, Sam is more than surviving,
he's thriving. The 7-year-old is on
track in the classroom after missing
two months while a patient at Shriners
Hospitals for Children and more days for
doctors appointments last year.
"He's not the kind of kid who says
'Help me,'" said Jill Juliano, Sam's first
grade teacher. "He's more likely to say 'I
can do that.'"
Last year, the outlook was grim for
Sam. By the time the Summer Street
Elementary School first grader was seen
by the family's pediatrician, his oxygen
levels dropped, the color of his skin
changed, and he was rushed to Boston
Children's Hospital. He was put on
life support and given medications to
stabilize him.
A few weeks later, a surgeon at
Shriners determined while medicines
cured his viral illness and spared his
heart, brain, kidneys and liver, the
sacrifice was two limbs.
Sam's legs were amputated below the
knees and he also lost a hand.
The National Institutes of Health
describes the condition as septic shock, a
Sam Helpern at bat in a game at the Summer Street School
in Lynnfield.
PHOTO: OWEN O'ROURKE