Separated from the rest of the world for 12 years by a thin layer of plastic. This was, in a sentence, the life of David Vetter, which was for the history known as the “Bubble Boy.”
David was born with one of the most devastating genetic diseases ever recorded: Severe combined immunodeficiency (IDCG)which prevents the development of the immune system and which makes the body highly vulnerable to any fatal bacteria or viruses, fatal to the patient with the disease.
The complications began still David was in his mother’s belly. In September 1971, David was born through a meticulously planned caesarean section to avoid any contamination. The delivery room was sealed and disinfected, with the minimum possible people as possible.
When he was born, David had only 5 seconds of freedom, until he was placed in a sterile bubble that would be his new – and unique – world.
Cruel genetics
David was not the first child of the couple Vetter. A year earlier, David Joseph III, his older brother, Born with the same disease and died at seven months of age.
Parents learned that there was 50% probability of any male child born with the same condition. But even so, they decided to advance with another pregnancy.
The bubble was, in the opinion of doctors, the only option to keep David alive.
I didn’t know what the world was
Initially, it was believed that the isolation in the bubble would be temporary. The plan was to make a bone marrow transplantation, which would allow us to introduce healthy immunity cells into the David body. But finding a compatible donor turned out to be extremely difficult. Neither the parents nor the older sister were compatible, and the probability of a non -familiar donor coinciding was remote. With each failed attempt, the bubble became a permanent prison.
Despite the circumstances, David exceeded some expectations: he began to walk at eight months and his intellectual development was above average. But the lack of touch and physical experience prevented him from understanding the most basic things in life: I did not know the wind, the textures of nature, the heat or the cold. I didn’t know what the world was.
And of course, isolation had a huge psychological burden for the child. The medical team responsible for the case tried to integrate the boy into a sterile space inside his parents’ house and even gave him a special fact developed by NASA, similar to a spatial fact, so that he could walk abroad safely. But even so the world treated it in a unique way and the feeling of isolation did not disappear.
Gradually, David became more retracted and began to show signs of psychological anguishremember the. He had many nightmares, many of them starring an imaginary figure – the “king of germs” – that terrified him.
From New Hope at the unfortunate end
In 1983, there was finally a hope: A new technique would allow marrow transplants even with only partially compatible donors. David’s sister became a Dorado and the procedure was performed. But everything has changed in a few days.
The transplanted marrow contained traces of Epstein-Barr virusat the undetectable time. For a person with functional immune system, the virus would be harmless – but for David, it was fatal. The virus spread rapidly, gave rise to hundreds of tumors, and within a few days David had high fevers, bleeding and blood vomiting.
And it was then that David, for the first time since those short 5 seconds, left the bubble to receive emergency medical care. That day, the mother, Carol, touched her son for the first and last time: David Vetter died that same night, just 12 years old.
However, the relationship between viruses and cancer was confirmed, IDCG’s genetic origins were identified and therapies that changed medicine emerged. Today, newborns are tested for the disease that affected David and, when identified in time, can be treated successfully, with high survival rates.
While some experts harshly criticize David’s case, classifying him from unhealthy sacrifice, others remember that his life has saved many others. Today, thanks to David, no other child will need to live in a bubble.
