It began innocently, as a persistent cough. Doctors in New York, where 3-year-old Michael Fiacco lived, labeled it the flu, perhaps pneumonia.

But when the toddler’s parents, Michael and Diana, brought him to an ER in December 2001, an X-ray revealed a huge tumor in his right lung, the likes of which his doctors had never seen. The tumor was pushing his heart and trachea against his left lung. “His left lung was so compressed, all he had was a small pocket of oxygen,” recalls Diana. A biopsy diagnosed pleuropulmonary blastoma (PPB), a cancer affecting fewer than 50 children worldwide. There was no treatment protocol—Michael was given less than a 40 percent chance of surviving.

One round of chemotherapy shrunk the tumor; the second round didn’t. Michael couldn’t eat or talk, was skeletally thin and contracted a dangerous virus. His doctors’ assessment: more chemo would be futile; instead, surgery, during which Michael would likely lose his right lung, would be the next step.

But the Fiaccos' friends and family had other ideas. Says Diana, “Everyone’s research led to Dr. Holcombe Grier,” an oncologist at Children’s Hospital Boston who had successfully treated a boy with PPB. Even Michael’s Manhattan oncologist agreed, “There’s no place like Boston.”

The Fiaccos headed north and heard hope: more chemo would shrink the tumor and surgery would remove it. Michael’s right lung could be saved. “This was the first time we heard confidence from doctors,” recalls Diana. “We thought, ‘We’re here to stay.’”

Under the care of Dr. Grier, oncologist Samuel Volchenboum, MD, and surgeon Robert Shamberger, MD, Michael had more chemo. As promised, Shamberger’s associate Craig Lillehei, MD, and his team removed the entire tumor and saved three-quarters of the boy’s right lung.

A few months later, Michael visited Disney World— “to meet the real Spiderman,” he explains. Now, two years later, he’s 6, a kindergartener and talented batter who’ll join the Pioneer League this spring. “Making it this far is huge,” says his mom. “The kids who relapse usually do within 18 months.”

The Fiaccos, including daughter Ariana, 8, now live in Newburyport, MA, where Diana grew up. “Boston is the center of the cancer treatment world, “says Diana. We know Children’s is the best place to be.”