Tequila Dare Saves 13-Year-Old Boy

(MYFOX NATIONAL) - A dare by friends to drink eight shots of tequila is being credited as saving a 13-year-old boy from an undetected brain tumor.

Evan Hamilton, of Galt, Calif., took the dare at school in May. CBS13 in Sacramento reported that he passed out and was rushed to the emergency room to be treated for alcohol poisoning. At the hospital a CT scan revealed a tumor in the brain of the unsuspecting eighth grader.

"He is a good kid, and I don't want people to think he's a bad kid because he drank alcohol," said Jamie Hamilton, Evan's mother, to the station. "He made a mistake."

The mistake is seen as a blessing by the family.

Evan returned home Monday after seven months at UC Davis-Sacramento Medical Center, where he had the tumor removed from his brain stem in June.

Linda Shipman, Evan's grandmother, told the Lodi News-Sentinel that the boy has maintained a positive attitude and has even talked about writing a book about his experiences called "How Tequila Saved My Life."

Shipman also said that the family is learning how to take care of Evan because he still has a tracheotomy and a tube pumping food into his stomach. Some of his brain nerves have not healed yet, so his tongue and esophagus are still paralyzed. He hopes to return to school next fall.

Some symptoms of brain tumors in children include a decrease in coordination, fever, headache, memory loss, nausea, mood swings and lethargy, according to Google Health .

A 22-year-old Austin, Texas, woman had a rare brain tumor, more common to children, removed after a trip to the emergency room complaining about a headache that afflicted her for several months. She is feeling better, though will need chemotherapy and radiation in the next year, reported WIVB-TV.