Priest praises ‘bubble boy’

Press, 27 February 1984, Page 10

Priest praises ‘bubble boy’

NZPA-AP Conroe, Texas The life of the “bubble boy” was a triumph of science and of the heart, a priest said on Saturday at a simple funeral for the child known to the public only as David. “For those who put value on the dignity of person, who put value on love, David’s life was one of the fullest I have ever witnessed,” the Rev. Laurence Connelly said at the Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church.

David, whose last name was never disclosed at the request of his parents, was buried at the Conroe Memorial Cemetery. His bronze casket was covered with roses, daisies and car-

nations and flanked by a semi-circle of floral bouquets provided by his family. David, born without any immunity to disease, had been prevented all his life from touching or smelling flowers, although he could see them. He had not bugged or kissed his mother until 15 days before bis death, when doctors removed him from the sterile plastic bubble that bad protected him.

He died on Thursday of complications from an experimental bone marrow transplant that doctors had hoped would free him from his life-long confinement. “David touched us in the heart. David was not a taker, he was a giver who

knew how to give and his life was important beyond science and technology,” said Father Connelly. “Anyone can live in a bubble, but he was alive in the bubble,” said the priest. During the funeral mass, David’s parents and sister, whose bone marrow was used in the experimental transplant, sat in a pew a few metres from the casket. David’s mother clutched a handkerchief, but sat dryeyed through the funeral. About 300 mourners, including family, friends and hospital personnel and doctors who treated David, crowded into the sanctuary at the small East Texas church.

The priest praised Dr William Shearer and Dr

Ralph Feigin, both of the Baylor College of Medicine, for leading from the heart in the 12-year struggle to make David a whole person.

David suffered from severe combined immune deficiency, an ailment that left him defenceless and at risk from even common germs. The doctors took bone marrow from David’s sister, Katherine, aged 15, and treated it to try to prevent it being rejected. The doctors hoped the marrow would trigger David’s dormant immune system and provide protection from disease.

Instead, the doctors believed the transplant triggered complications that eventually took his life.