What do actors John Travolta and Jake Gyllenhaal have in common? They both played movie bubble boys. Each portrayed a young man living in a plastic enclosed environment due to suffering from severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID). The Travolta movie was a 1976 made-for-television film and was rated one of the best TV movies of the 1970s. Gyllenhaal”s portrayal came in a 2001 movie in which one critic wrote that his “inspired performance helps things immensely.” Most Jerry Seinfeld fans remember the infamous “Bubble Boy” episode of that legendary comedy program. It is the 47th and one of the most popular episodes of that series.
There probably won”t be any more movies about children with SCID living in bubbles. Scientists, through gene therapy, were recently able to cure 8 out of 10 youngsters with the affliction. There is hope that 100 percent can be cured, soon.
SCID was once viewed as a death sentence. Generally, 40 to 100 of all the infants born in the United States each year are diagnosed with SCID. These unfortunate babies do not have immunity to germs, bacteria and viruses that can lead to fatal illnesses.
The “bubble boy” nickname for the disease came about because of David Vetter. He was a Houston, Texas youngster with SCID who became quite famous when, through a medical experiment, lived in a sterile environment inside a plastic shell.
There turns out to be more to David”s story than what the news reports provided about the original bubble boy. Not only was he the original bubble boy, he was also the planned bubble boy. David”s parents had already buried a seven month-old son because of SCID. Doctors told the Vetters if they had additional male children they would all have a 50/50 chance of having SCID.
Three doctors from Baylor University talked the Vetters into having another child with a promise that if the infant was a boy with SCID they would secure federal research grants to make it possible to keep the child alive in a sterile environment until a cure for the disease could be discovered. There were just two major problems that everyone seemed to overlook. No one really knew how long it would take to find a cure and they didn”t know what the long term impacts would be on a child living in a plastic bubble.
David”s early years weren”t bad. He developed a close relationship with his sister, Katherine, who would sleep close by him, just outside of the bubble. The problems began when David became old enough to understand his predicament. He dealt with severe psychological issues due to his isolation and what he perceived to be a hopeless situation.
Like any child, David yearned to be able to play in the outside world that he saw through the windows and on television. But, he thought that he would never be able to do so. He also considered the time spent on his education to be a waste, as evidenced by his own comments. David said, “Whatever I do depends on what somebody else decides I do. Why school? Why did you make me learn to read? What good will it do? I won”t ever be able to do anything anyway. So why? You tell me why.”
David died of cancer at the age of 12. If he had lived, he would be 37 now. I can”t imagine what it would be like to live in a plastic bubble for that long. If he had survived, though, gene therapy might now make it possible for him to leave his bubble.
You have to feel sorry for David, the bubble boy who didn”t have any say so about being the bubble boy. But, I suppose the worldwide publicity that came about because of David helped the cure for SCID come about much sooner than it would have if David and his story never existed.
Gary Dickson is the Record-Bee publisher. Contact him at gdickson@record-bee.com or call 263-5636, ext. 24.
