When Wyatt went snowboarding with his family in Montana in December 2025, he never expected the trip would lead to a life-threatening medical emergency.
At the time, Wyatt was an active 18-year-old from Lino Lakes, Minnesota, who loved spending time outdoors. Whether he was on the lake with family, playing sports or hanging out with friends, he was always moving.
Wyatt’s early life
Wyatt has always been a very active person, he loves to play frisbee golf, wake surf behind the boat, cliff jump up north and so much more. And, he’s always had a positive attitude.
In 2020, when Wyatt was 13 years old, he was diagnosed with juvenile absence epilepsy. Wyatt experienced a few different symptoms like spacing off in the middle of a sentence and not remembering the alphabet.
For years, Wyatt’s symptoms were successfully managed thanks to his care team – including specialists at Noran Neurology, a Children’s Minnesota partner. With epilepsy medication, he hasn’t experienced a seizure since 2021.
A snowboarding trip turned into an emergency
When he developed a headache after a day of snowboarding in 2025, no one thought much of it at first. But things quickly changed. Wyatt’s headache became severe. “It got so bad he was crying,” said his mom, Jen. “He could barely walk.”
His parents brought him to a local emergency department in Livingston, Montana, where testing showed Wyatt had a brain bleed. His care team discovered he had a ruptured arteriovenous malformation, or AVM, which is when a group of blood vessels form incorrectly. It is likely Wyatt had the AVM for years without symptoms.
While Wyatt has a history of seizures, the life-threatening brain bleed he experienced in 2025 was unrelated to his previously established and well-managed epilepsy diagnosis.
Wyatt was transferred to a hospital in Billings, Montana, where specialists performed a procedure called an embolization to help stop the bleeding in his brain. Wyatt recovered in the intensive care unit for the next five days. After that, his care team said it was safe to fly home to Minnesota.
Although Wyatt was recovering, his family still needed to decide what the best long-term treatment was for the AVM – and where to get the care.
Choosing Children’s Minnesota
Jen and Justin, Wyatt’s parents, knew they had a big decision ahead of them. Once home in Minnesota, they met with different specialists around the state to understand Wyatt’s options and what might be best for him.
Recommendations for what to do with the AVM varied from specialist to specialist, making their decision even harder. But through it all, one place stood out: Children’s Minnesota.
Wyatt’s parents met with the neuroscience team at Children’s Minnesota, and Meysam Kebriaei, MD, medical director of pediatric neurosurgery, and felt confident with their choice.
With one of the nation’s only pediatric-dedicated neurointerventional programs and a newly constructed, state-of-the-art neuroangiography suite, our neuroscience team at Children’s Minnesota provides the most comprehensive services in the region, treating all forms of pediatric brain, nervous system, and neurovascular injuries and illnesses from birth through age 21.
“We got a lot of different opinions,” Jen said. “But Dr. Kebriaei was confident removing the AVM was the best decision for Wyatt.”
Wyatt’s parents naturally felt nervous about brain surgery. “We were terrified,” said Jen. “What could happen? This could totally change his whole life.”
But the kid experts at Children’s Minnesota helped put Wyatt and his parents at ease. “The communication was over-the-top good,” Jen said. “Dr. Kebriaei was the most amazing surgeon. Our experience with Children’s Minnesota was above and beyond – we wouldn’t want to have done it anywhere else.”
Brain surgery
After discussing with Dr. Kebriaei, they scheduled Wyatt’s brain surgery for June 16, 2026.
“On the day of the surgery, my parents were nervous,” said Wyatt. “I was kind of nervous because it was surgery. But Dr. Kebriaei was super confident. Seeing his lack of worry made it so I wasn’t worried either.”
Wyatt’s surgery was a success!
Dr. Kebriaei and the care team were able to remove the AVM completely.
“It was so wonderful to do it [have the surgery done] at Children’s Minnesota,” said Wyatt’s mom. “They took absolutely fantastic care of us. It was better than we could’ve ever imagined.”
Recovering from surgery
Wyatt’s recovery in the hospital went well. He was prepared to be there for up to a week, but after two days he was told he could go home and continue to recover there.
“It was unreal,” said Wyatt.
Wyatt’s nursing team helped make his hospital stay a positive experience. “My nurse right after surgery was super nice and funny,” Wyatt said. “She was awesome.”
His parents shared the same thoughts about Wyatt’s care during his recovery.
“His nurse was absolutely amazing,” said Wyatt’s dad, Justin. “She was just wonderful in every aspect.”
Wyatt today
“Wyatt’s just like he’s himself, but with a sweet scar on his head now,” said Jen describing how it’s been since surgery.
Today, Wyatt is in his first year of college at Pennsylvania State University studying nuclear engineering.
When asked how he felt since surgery, Wyatt said, “I feel great! I feel like the surgery didn’t even happen.”
Wyatt is excited to be at college and wants to stay active, so he’s playing a lot of beach volleyball and plans to sign up for club and intramural volleyball later this year.
Wyatt’s advice
When Wyatt was asked what he would tell other kids or teens in his situation he said, “Something that really helped me was: I knew the situation I was in sucked but instead of getting down and mad and being negative, I tried to stay positive in whatever way I could.”
During his recovery time, he reminded himself to enjoy the little things like calls from friends or people stopping by.
As for his parents, they love to talk with Wyatt and hear how college is going. Ultimately, they are so glad to share Wyatt’s story with other families. Jen said, “I really can only hope it gives other families hope or helps them as it was the scariest time of our lives.”
