Tulsa Teen Beats All Odds After A Series Of Setbacks

Eleven years ago, a little boy was attacked by a Rottweiler, and doctors didn't think the child would live. That wasn't the first time, doctors predicted Larry Mason would die and it wasn't the last, but he has defied all the odds and turns 19 Tuesday.

Larry was born premature, weighing just over a pound. He wasn't expected to make it then, and if he did, doctors said he'd never walk. But not only can he walk, he rides horses, runs track for Special Olympics and will graduate high school next spring.

Larry was only 8-years-old, playing at a friend's house, when the friend's Rottweiler got out of the garage and clamped his jaws around Larry's face and head. It was the friend's grandmother who wrestled the dog off Larry, but the damage was great.

"He had to have full reconstructive surgery," said Larry's mom Jeannette.

That was the second time doctors told Jeannette to make plans to bury her youngest child. First, when he was born premature with a host of medical issues. While his mother worried about anything that could cause a setback, Larry refused to worry about limits.

"When they let him out of the hospital, he had a trach and he had an oxygen tank. I had to get a 100 foot oxygen tube so he could run through the house," Jeannette said.

Larry beat the odds again, and then a few years after the dog attack, doctors discovered he had a brain tumor. Once again, the predictions were dire. Surely, he couldn't defy the medical prognosis for a third time, but he did.

"He's an inspiration. He's what gets me up every day, doing what I need to do," Jeannette said.

Larry does therapeutic horseback riding on Monday nights and recently won a championship buckle for his efforts. He's also been to his first prom; his sister rented a limo and took him to it in style.

Larry loves school and would someday like to become a teacher or maybe a police officer because he loves the show Cops.