Fritzie Dara F.

Adjilani April 29 2018

BMLS 3F

Reflection Paper: The Boy In The Bubble

Life isn’t exactly a bunch of laughs for a 12 year old boy named David Vetter. He
was nicknamed as the “Bubble Boy” because he literally lives in a sterile plastic bubble from
birth until he died at the age of 12. David suffers from Severe Combined Immunodeficiency, a
genetic condition which inherited as a consequence of a mutation on the X chromosome that
results in a lack of functioning T- or B-lymphocytes. His condition means he has no resistance
to infection. Even the harmless bugs and bacteria all around us in everyday life could kill him.

David’s life was full of understanding, bravery and patience. I was amazed by him
becase he accepted his condition and still looked optismistic about it. I was sad about the fact
that his condition has no cure and the chances of a bone marrow transplant failed because
David and his sister was not a match. When he was 12 years old, the doctors said that they
have a experimental method to cure his condition. The method was still the bone marrow
transplant using David’s sister but to destroy the T-cells present in her bone marrow.
Unfortunately, David’s sister bone marrow contained infected cells with Eipstein Barr virus and
thus transmitted to David. He died from Burkitt’s Lymphoma. I was so annoyed to the Doctors,
yes, they screened the bone marrow, but they did not think that there is a possible virus
contained on David’s sister bone marrow. They were not careful. I think they used David’s
condition to further their immunologic knowledge.

I still feel the sorrow of David’s mother. She never blamed anyone. She just said
that he’s son is a legend. He left a legacy to the science and to us people. David’s story should
be a lesson to the doctors around the world and to us people. We should always remember that
no matter what the situation or condition we have in life, we should stand brave and optimistic.
“He never touched the world, but the world was touched by him”.