In September 1971, in Texas, the United States, a few minutes after being born, a newborn suddenly developed "red beans" all over his body, accompanied by severe spasms , and his heart suddenly stopped.
was immersed in the joy of the birth of their son just a second ago. The baby's parents were still thinking about what to name the child. They had no time to react before the doctor sent their son into a sterile isolation cover.
The doctor informed the child’s parents that the child had a red rash and it was life-threatening.
's parents were very anxious. They didn't know what was going on.
Previous examinations clearly showed that the child in the belly was healthy. The moment he was born, the child was also a big fat boy who cried loudly. After
was sent to a sterile isolation cover, the baby's health slowly improved without any medication.
Parents may not have thought that their sons would live in a large isolation "bubble" for the next twelve years.
What happened to this boy’s body?
How did he spend twelve years in a sterile isolation cover?
"Bubble Boy"
This boy is called David. He was in such a critical condition just after he came into this world. Doctors initially thought it was a series of allergic reactions.
Therefore, the doctor immediately sent David to a sterile isolation cover. After entering the isolation cover, David's physical condition began to improve.
David's parents looked embarrassed at this time, and they were very worried about their child's condition.
After a series of examinations, doctors discovered that David was suffering from a congenital disease- severe combined immunodeficiency .
Severe combined immunodeficiency, what kind of disease is this?
This disease is caused by abnormalities in the baby's genes. After birth, the body lacks T cells and B cells .
The lack of these two cells will cause the baby's immune cells to fail to function normally and lack resistance to any bacteria and fungi.
Therefore, babies can develop serious infections as long as they are exposed to the air.
David's parents seemed to have known about it for a long time. They originally thought that David had escaped the disaster, but they didn't expect that he was still not spared.
It turns out that David also had an older brother, who unfortunately died when he was only seven months old.
The main culprit that led to the death of David's brother was severe combined immunodeficiency, which devastated David's parents.
This is not the first time for them to have a child together. David also has an eldest sister. The eldest sister is in good health and has not shown any discomfort.
So when David's brother passed away, his parents couldn't accept the fact.
After they became pregnant with David, they often went to the hospital for fear that the child would also have congenital diseases.
However, the medical conditions in the 1970s could not detect diseases such as severe combined immunodeficiency, so the prenatal examination results they received showed that David was in good health.
Originally, David's parents had no illusions and planned to quietly accompany David through the last few months of his life.
But the doctor's diagnosis once again ignited the hopes of David's parents. Although the symptoms of
severe combined immunodeficiency are similar to AIDS , they are not incurable.
Doctors can reshape the patient's immune system through transplantation.
However, doctors did not give a very definite answer as to whether David could be completely cured by bone marrow transplantation.
Just from a medical theory, this makes perfect sense.
David's parents were grasping at a life-saving straw and planned to rely on bone marrow transplantation to save David's life.
But unfortunately, David’s parents and sister’s bone marrow type did not match David’s.
Until a suitable bone marrow is found, David must live in a sterile isolation enclosure.
Twelve years of "bubble life"
David stayed in the isolation cover for twelve years.
David cannot have physical contact with anyone. He has never felt the warmth of his parents since he was born.
Because he has been living in a transparent isolation cover, David also has another name - "Bubble Boy".
Although this "big bubble" completely isolated David from the outside world, it did not stop his family's love for him.
David's sister knew that her brother was very fragile, so she cared about him since he was a child.
's parents were even more afraid that something would happen to David, so they treated everything around David with caution.
Except that he has no immunity, David is no different from other children. All other organs in his body are normal.
When David was babbling, his parents would teach David some simple words and letters outside through the isolation barrier.
David is very smart and can learn faster than other children of the same age.
He could not play with other children or go to school. When he was a little older, David's parents began to tell him stories.
David is very sensible. Every time his parents tell stories, he will sit quietly and listen carefully.
has been confined in a "big bubble", and the older David also yearns for the outside world.
However, the sensible David never expressed this idea in front of his parents.
has known that he has a special disease for as long as he can remember, and David has always felt that he was a drag on the family.
David's parents know that their son has always wanted to go out and go out. In order to make David's life less boring, they will disinfect some toys for David to play with.
Every year, David will have a birthday party, and his sister and parents will give David a birthday gift.
On his birthday every year, his parents and sister would tell David that he was the best gift God had given to the whole family.
The way David understands the outside world is through TV. The pictures on TV show the blue sky, white clouds, green grass and flowers outside.
An ordinary piece of grass would make David stare at the TV screen for a long time.
Just like that, several years have passed, but the bone marrow suitable for David has still not been found.
In order to help the "Bubble Boy" get out of trouble, many American media reported on David's deeds.
David’s parents were not pessimistic because they had not found a suitable bone marrow. Under their care, David’s body showed almost no abnormalities.
The optimistic attitude of his parents was also passed on to David. David felt that one day he would be able to fully recover from his strange illness.
David also believes that sooner or later he will not need the protection of this "large bubble".
David's fate also affected the mood of many Americans, and they all began to pay attention to the "Bubble Boy".
Americans who have always lived freely under the sun find it hard to imagine that David has never stepped out of the isolation barrier since he was born.
Many people sent postcards to David, encouraging him to continue living and that the suffering would eventually pass.
Everyone also began to spontaneously search for bone marrow suitable for David, hoping that David would recover soon.
Some media even came to David's home, pointed their cameras at David's isolation cover, and filmed David's daily life into a documentary.
David, who lives in the isolation barrier, also feels the warmth of everyone. David in the documentary is very innocent.
David became almost a household name during that time, and people often talked about his condition.
When David was 6 years old, he had his first opportunity to explore the outside world.
After hearing about David's strange illness, the U.S. space agency thought that as long as they created a sterile environment, David could move freely like other children.
So they specially built a spacesuit for David according to his height.
This space suit fully complies with the standards of NASA astronaut space suits and can completely isolate dust and germs in the air.
Although this space suit was a bit bulky and troublesome to wear, David was very excited after receiving the space suit and felt that his destiny had reached a turning point.
But David did not use this space suit often. For him, going out for a trip was the greatest gift from God, and he was already satisfied.
After coming out of the "bubble", David felt that everything was new.
He saw with his own eyes the blue sky and white clouds, the birds waving their wings in the sky, and the flowers blooming on the ground.
He also heard the sound of the wind blowing with his own ears, which made David feel like he was reborn.
Seeing the smile on David's face, David's parents also sincerely hope that their son will recover soon, and they will give their son a big hug when the time comes.
But as time passed and six years passed, the bone marrow suitable for David still did not appear.
By this time, David was already a big boy.
Twelve-year-old David is also more sensible and will not cause any trouble to his parents.
At the same time, David grew up with the ever-changing medical technology in the United States.
The doctor proposed another effective method at this time, which is to transplant his sister's hematopoietic stem cells, which can also rebuild David's immune system.
David’s parents no longer want to wait aimlessly for a suitable bone marrow, and want their son to live a normal life as soon as possible.
They only hesitated for a short while before agreeing to the doctor's treatment.
When David's sister knew she could save her brother, she agreed to the transplant without even thinking twice.
However, what no one expected was that just because of this operation, David's life came to an end.
End of life
The hematopoietic stem cell transplant operation was very successful. Neither my sister nor David had any accidents during the operation.
In the days after the operation, David's recovery was also very gratifying.
Parents even feel that their children are finally saying goodbye to the isolation mask, and that their family's hard days are over.
However, there was a time bomb hidden in the sister's hematopoietic stem cells. After entering the body of his brother David, the time bomb was detonated.
Since my sister is a girl, the X chromosome obtained from her parents can make the immune system stronger.
Compared with men, women's immune systems are more complex. Biologically, there are more immunoglobulins in the body than men, and their immune capabilities are also stronger than men.
Therefore, David's sister does not have obvious severe combined immunodeficiency symptoms like her two brothers.
Although she maintains a healthy physical condition, the virus has always been hidden in her body.
David and his brother have always been dominant. Due to genetic reasons, their immunity is inherently poor.
After the hematopoietic stem cells left the sister's body and came to the body of the younger brother who had poor immunity, the virus hidden in the cells broke out unbridled.
This is undoubtedly fatal to David, who has no ability to resist.
The original pathogens all come from the outside world, and will slowly recover as long as they are isolated.
But this time, the cause of David's abnormality was the blood in his body. No matter what method was used, it could not be completely cleaned.
David also suffered from lymphoma under the influence of the virus.
This news made the originally happy family no longer laugh and talk, and David's parents were like a bolt from the blue.
Lymphoma caused David's immune system to collapse again. Even if he returned to the sterile isolation cover, David's life could not be saved.
After David knew that his time was running out, he did not feel too sad. Instead, he turned to comfort his parents.
David's parents have had too many fantasies over the years, and when the scenes that only appeared in their dreams really came true, David's parents were excited, and they even planned to take their son to travel around.
Just when everything was going according to David's parents' expectations, step by step, fate played a huge joke on them.
The ups and downs of mood before and after left David's parents at a loss. They also knew that they could not keep their son.
In the last moments of David's life, his parents and David planned to fulfill a wish they had not been able to fulfill in the past twelve years.
Parents and David hugged each other tightly. Their family had been waiting for such a simple wish for twelve years.
David comforted his parents not to be too sad because of his death. He was very happy to have parents like them.
David feels that although most of these twelve years have been spent in isolation, this time has not been in vain.
Before David passed away, he kissed his mother gently on the forehead and said his final farewell to this beautiful world.
Four months after the operation, David passed away.
And like David, there are many patients in the world who are suffering from illness and trying hard to become an ordinary person.
David’s story is like a shot in the arm, inspiring many people facing difficulties and allowing the world to see the optimistic and beautiful side of human nature.
Finally, I also hope that we can live a good life and that people who are suffering can maintain an optimistic spirit and get out of the predicament as soon as possible.
-end-
editor | Don’t miss the little star
