A Long Island couple is thanking the doctors who performed a lifesaving, complicated surgery on their 3-month-old boy.

Doctors gave parents Christina and Franco DiMartino little hope that their baby, Matteo DiMartino, would survive the pregnancy. When Matteo was born in April, he had a large mass across his chest called a lymphatic malformation.

According to the National Organization for Rare Disorders, 1 in 4,000 newborns are affected.

The Massapequa couple said that they spent countless hours researching and praying, refusing to give up. Then, a team of specialists came together to perform a complicated surgery, removing the growth and saving Matteo's life.

At the time, Matteo was 6 months old and the surgery was seven hours long.

"Each and every doctor has a role in saving my son's life and I am forever grateful for that," Christina DiMartino said.

Since his surgery, Matteo, now 9 months old, has met all his milestones and his doctors say that he will grow up to be happy and healthy.

"We live in a day and age when so many things are possible," Franco DiMartino said, later adding. "Look at him, it's so worth it!"