On Wednesday, Johnny Cook looked like any other 17-month-old. His mother, Britney Spicer, smoothed his hair, which had scrunched up during his nap, as he slowly warmed up to the new people in the room. Soon, a big smile spread across his face, revealing his first baby teeth.
A week earlier, though, doctors were worried the swelling in his throat would cause his airway to close after eight days on a ventilator at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., batting bacterial pneumonia and swine flu.
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