Daring, Reconstructive Ear Surgery On Tap For Local 9-Year-Old

BREWSTER, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- On Thursday morning a little boy from Putnam County will get his one wish.

It's a major medical procedure that almost didn't happen because of some heartless thieves. But CBS 2's Derricke Dennis went to work, and so did thousands of Good Samaritans for Aidan Sullivan's surgery.

Nine-year-old Aidan wants more than anything to fit in.

But he can't. He's missing something.

His right ear.

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A congenital disorder left the entire right side of his face underdeveloped.

But on Thursday, reconstructive surgery will fix it.

"The ear is key to that, because it's something that's a self-esteem thing," Tim Sullivan, Aidan's dad, told Dennis.

But on the road to getting that ear there was a terrible setback. Last Thanksgiving, a community fundraiser near their home in Brewster ended with thousands of dollars in donations stolen.

But after CBS 2 told their story in November, checks started pouring in.

"People from Louisiana; people from Alabama; people from California; people from Ireland," mother Colleen Sullivan said.

"The support we've gotten has been tremendous. It's actually been overwhelming," Tim Sullivan added.

Aidan's doctor, Charles Thorne at NYU's Langone Medical Center, will conduct the expensive surgery, which costs $30,000.

"We have to try to create as normal an ear as possible, by tracing his normal left ear, harvesting cartilage from his ribcage, and splicing that cartilage together to create a framework that simulates a normal ear," Dr. Thorne said.

There's no telling how long Aidan's surgery will take. If all goes well, maybe four to five hours, but if the doctor isn't satisfied, it could take as long as eight hours.

Aidan will be fast asleep throughout all of it, while he moves closer to his one wish -- to be normal.

Thursday's surgery will be the first of three for Aidan to reconstruct his ear, and make it as normal as possible.

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