For Australian boy born prematurely in New York on parents' vacation, a hospital homecoming
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James O'Leary weighed barely over a pound when he was born by surprise in New York, a world away from his home in Australia.
His mother was nearly six months pregnant when she went into labor while on vacation. It became an anxious four-month sojourn, with James in intensive care at Bellevue Hospital.
Nearly six years later, he went to Bellevue Wednesday for a reunion with the doctors, nurses and other staffers who cared for him. They became a surrogate family when the O'Learys were far from their own.
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Neonatologist Dr. Pradeep Mally says James couldn't breathe on his own when born, but he "was a fighter."
Now, he's a healthy, typical kindergartener. He lives in Sydney with parents Brett and Jennifer O'Leary and three younger siblings.