Dying Boy Bounces Back

A 9-year-old boy thought to be dying of a brain tumor began an “incredible” recovery after seeing his grandmother from Lebanon and has left Childrens Hospital. Roger Soliman had been admitted last Thursday in critical condition. The Make-A-Wish Foundation, which grants wishes to terminally ill patients, fulfilled what was thought to be Roger’s final wish to see his grandmother by arranging her flight to Los Angeles. When the grandmother, Khadiga Naanouh, arrived, the boy quickly began to improve. “It’s really incredible,” hospital spokeswoman Mercedes Schageman said. “We didn’t expect him to live; we thought he wouldn’t make it until she got here. . . . What love can do!” Roger was believed to be in a state of remission, but a hospital spokesman said he still must continue chemotherapy. “It’s given us the chance to go ahead with some additional treatment to do something with the tumor. Only time will tell,” his doctor, Stuart Seigel, said. “Roger’s a pretty tough kid and he’s rallied from several situations.”