When Stylianos Kortas was diagnosed with advanced lymphoma at the age of 14, his family faced the unimaginable. Four rounds of chemotherapy saved his life, but left him with devastating complications.
Chronic inflammation, recurrent pancreatitis and a severe narrowing of his upper small intestine meant that for two years, Stylianos could not eat solid food. While his parents and four brothers sat down to family meals, he survived on intravenous feeding and nutritional formula.
"We were cooking for everybody, and he was just taking his milk because he didn't have any other choice," said his mother, Maria Kortas. "We were waiting for somebody to help us with this."
Physicians in Cyprus successfully treated Stylianos' cancer, but the lasting damage to his digestive system proved beyond the reach of hospitals closer to home. Attempts at a specialist procedure in Cyprus and two further attempts in London were unsuccessful. Hospitals across Europe declined to take on the complexity of his case.
The Kortas family refused to give up. They turned to the United States.
"No hospital in Europe accepted us because of my condition, so we requested an appointment at Columbia Hospital in New York," said Stylianos. "I was excited that finally someone wanted to help me."
The doctor who said yes
In New York, the family met Dr Amrita Sethi, an interventional gastroenterologist who agreed to take on Stylianos' case.
Between January and August 2025, the family travelled to New York three times. Through multiple endoscopic procedures, Dr Sethi successfully dilated the narrowed portion of his intestine and removed coils that had been causing obstruction, allowing food to pass again.
For his first solid meal in months, Stylianos chose a slice of New York-style pizza.
"When he ate the first piece of pizza, I remember he smiled. I will never forget it. For me and Maria, it was like we're going to cry," said his father, Georgios Kortas, a Greek Orthodox priest.
Stylianos had weighed around 55 kilograms when Dr Sethi first treated him. By the time the New York procedures were complete, he had reached 68 kilograms.
Following hope to Chicago
When Dr Sethi relocated to Chicago in August 2025 to help launch the new Northwestern Medicine Centre for Advanced Endoscopy at Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield, Illinois, the Kortas family made a decision that said everything about their trust in her: they would follow.
"She became our doctor and we wanted to continue with her. We have complete trust in her," said Georgios.
In June 2026, Stylianos arrived in Chicago as the first international patient at the new centre. Using an advanced technique called EUS-guided ERCP, Dr Sethi placed a stent connecting his stomach and pancreas, creating a new route for pancreatic fluid to drain properly.
"This centre was built specifically to help patients like Stylianos," said Dr Sethi. "We have the equipment, the space and, most importantly, the team to support these very complex cases."
A family meal, restored
The procedure was a success. With the support of Northwestern Medicine Global Services, the family stayed at the Ronald McDonald House across the street from the hospital, and in the days that followed, they explored Chicago together, visiting landmarks, taking a river cruise and attending local sports events.
The send-off from the Northwestern Medicine team included a celebration with both styles of Chicago pizza. Stylianos, who began his recovery with a New York slice, delivered his verdict without hesitation.
"I think Chicago, the deep dish. The crust is amazing," he said.
For his parents, the moment carried a weight no words could fully capture. The boy who could not eat was sitting at a table, choosing pizza, planning his future.
Looking ahead
Stylianos will complete school next year. He hopes to become a doctor, inspired by the woman who gave him back not only his health, but his appetite and his ambitions.
"When you go through these difficult situations, you're inspired by those people. Now he wants to be a doctor, like Dr Sethi," said Maria.
His father expressed the family's profound gratitude to every medical team that played a part in Stylianos' survival, beginning at home.
"We feel immense gratitude for the doctors and medical teams who helped our son. The doctors in Cyprus who kept him alive at the Paediatric Oncology Clinic, and the intensive care doctor at Makarios Hospital, who fought so hard to keep our Stylianos alive," said Georgios. "And when we needed further care, we found Dr Sethi. She gave our son the chance to start eating again."
"Without these doctors, but also without God's help and the prayers of so many people, our son would not be here today."
