The "hundreds and hundreds" of tiny stitch marks on his head tell the story.
At just four years of age Matthew Christie has been dealt a tough hand - three blood clots, a stroke and then 40 per cent of his skull removed in March and kept in cold storage, in the hope that it could be put back on when the swelling in his brain subsided.
But Matthew's story is also a "miraculous" one according to the Head of Paediatric Neurosurgery at Westmead Children's Hospital, Dr Catherine Cartwright, who sawed off the toddler's skull, opened up the brain to remove the clots, and then stitched and cemented that skull back on earlier last month.
"He astounded us all," Dr Cartwright said.
"We keep the skulls in a well below zero freezer hoping the children will do well enough for it to go back on. But one quarter to half of those children [whose skull bones are removed] won't survive. For him to make, what is essentially a full recovery, is remarkable. We were expecting he wouldn't have been able to move half his body."
"I frequently told him he was our star patient," she added.
Matthew's condition is rare. About five out of 200,000 children nationally suffer from strokes, but he had the added drama of a "bleed into a stroke," Dr Cartwright said.
Signs of a possible stroke in a child can include headaches, seizures, one side of the body not moving as much as the other, a change in behaviour and a child that is sleepier than usual and "can't wake up", Dr Cartwright said.
In Matthew's case it was brought on by a virus - venus sinus thrombosis -which led to an active bleed on his brain.
"He had a blockage causing an active bleed, leading to stroke," said dad, Brendan Christie, a digital media specialist and councillor with Blue Mountains City Council.
"An MRI the day after his emergency craniotomy, where they removed 40 per cent of his skull, revealed three clots on his brain. One was 8cm, the other about 5.5cm and I'm unsure about the size of the third clot."
Mum, Elizabeth, said for four months Matthew wore a specially moulded helmet to protect his brain, but the high spirited toddler doesn't seem to be suffering any serious side effects from the past six months. His skull bone was reattached on August 5 with bone cement making up where the rest of the skull had grown - "a putty type cement around the edges" - and titanium plates to secure it back in, said Dr Cartwright.
"On the 30th of July he had another MRI which showed the stroke had killed part of the left side of his brain in the heart of the speech centre and memory bank, but the right side of his brain has compensated, hence why he has a memory and can speak," Mr Christie added.
"He surprised us all," said Dr Cartwright.
"He was in intensive care, on life support, it's pretty scary looking for parents ... but he's continued to improve.
"We now know that parts of the brain can take over when other parts have died away," she said.
A team of doctors are assisting with Matthew's rehabilitation which will continue for up to a year and Matthew is hoping to go back to see his friends in daycare later this month.
Mr Christie said while the experience has been harrowing, they've had plenty of support from family and friends and have re-evaluated what was important in life.
"It's brought us closer as a family and we are grateful for each and every day. We appreciate our time together more because it's something we thought we might never have again. We nearly lost him."
Stroke Awareness Week is on September 14-20. Details: www.strokefoundation.com.au.
