'A true fighter': NJ pitcher gets back on mound for FDU after two brain surgeries

Daniel Sedutto, a pitcher for Fairleigh Dickinson University's Florham Park campus in Morris County, is known for having a smile on his face − and a permanent "zipper" down the back of his neck.

Teammates have nicknamed the right-handed Farmingdale resident "Zippy," in honor of the scar left behind after two brain surgeries last summer. When he finally got back on the mound on April 7 after an eight-month rehabilitation, they gave him a standing ovation.

Sedutto has a congenital condition known as a Type-1 Chiari malformation. Before the operations, his brain didn't fit properly inside his skull and was pressing down on his spine. He also had a buildup of cerebrospinal fluid, all of which combined to cause recurring headaches.

For years, he tried not to complain. A 5-foot-9, 200-pound senior, he had already lost his freshman season to COVID in 2020, then had a COVID-delayed arthroscopic shoulder surgery the next year following his sophomore season.

Then there were the headaches. A few months after the shoulder surgery, they became a regular part of Sedutto's life, recurring almost daily. Sedutto took extra-strength Excedrin "just to take the edge off" in the morning, and again before practice, he recalled in a recent interview.

But he was determined to play, so he suffered as "days extended to weeks, and weeks extended to months" through the season.

"He embodies what you want in every one of your kids," FDU-Florham pitching coach Kyle Murphy said. "He's a program kid with a heart of gold. It's nice having a true fighter in the dugout every day with us."

A month of arduous surgeries

On July 12, 2022, a few weeks after his 21st birthday, Sedutto had a six-hour brain surgery.

Staten Island University Hospital neurologist Dr. Ronit Gilad performed three procedures: opening up Sedutto's skull, inserting a patch in the dura layer covering his brain, and shaving down his top two vertebrae to relieve pressure and allow better cerebrospinal fluid flow.

Sedutto's brain had protruded almost an inch out of the base of his skull. Yet he refused most painkillers, taking only Tylenol and muscle relaxants in the hospital.

Five days later, Sedutto developed high fevers that wouldn't go away. He was diagnosed with chemical meningitis, a condition in which the membranes around the brain and spinal cord become inflamed.

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Sedutto was back on the operating table on July 27, as Gilad reopened his incision and cleaned out the wound. He spent 11 days in the hospital on intravenous antibiotics, and went home with a catheter in his left arm.

"You're not touching my good arm," the pitcher joked with his medical team.

Back on the mound for FDU Devils

On April 7, Sedutto pitched a third of an inning at Arcadia University, outside Philadelphia. It was his inaugural appearance of the season, just the fourth of his college career and the first since his arduous surgeries.

He threw 11 pitches to three batters, allowing two hits but recording the final out of the Devils' 15-2 road loss.

Both teams came out of their dugouts to applaud as Sedutto walked off the mound.

"It was awesome," he said. "Coming off the field, I definitely got choked up just looking back at the summer I had."

A permanent reminder

Sedutto said he keeps the back of his head mostly shaved, so everybody can see the scar "except for me." He applies Vitamin E cream, and takes backward selfies every few days to check how it's healing. Every time he goes home, his mother, Cheryl Sedutto, asks, "Let me see your head."

She also got her son a Chiari-themed T-shirt: "My brain is bigger than yours," it says.

Though Gilad's operations drained the excess fluid and returned Sedutto's brain to its proper confines, it will stay oversized forever.

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Sedutto was likely born that way. But nobody knew until he started getting headaches after getting beaned by a baseball in high school. He wound up in the ER, but he didn't have a concussion.

Not long after Sedutto graduated from high school, the family moved from Staten Island to Farmingdale. He got hit in the head again, this time by a chair he was unloading from a pod full of outdoor furniture.

The Sedutto family took Daniel to the ER. But again, it wasn't a concussion, so he was sent home.

"He had been living with this for years but never really verbalized it," Cheryl Sedutto said. "Finally, I said, 'Danny, you have to see somebody.' He'd learned to live with it. He could sneeze and it caused a headache. I guess his pain tolerance was so high."

More opportunities to pitch

Sedutto, a marketing major, hopes to get more opportunities to pitch before graduating from FDU-Florham next month. He's targeting the Senior Day doubleheader against Wilkes on April 29.

Cheryl Sedutto was in her son's hospital room every day from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. last year, but has yet to see him pitch in college. She is planning to be at the doubleheader along with his father, Michael Sr. and older brother Michael Jr.

"I'm happy to have gotten that one out, but if Coach calls on me again, I'd be more than happy to come out there," Daniel Sedutto said. "There's still some chances to play a little bit more before I go into the real world."

Jane Havsy is a storyteller for the Daily Record and DailyRecord.com, part of the USA TODAY Network. For full access to live scores, breaking news and analysis, subscribe today.

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This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: NJ baseball: FDU pitcher Daniel Sedutto returns after brain surgery