Immediately after being removed from his mother's uterus, Vetter entered the plastic germ-free environment that would be his home for most of his life. Their third child, David Phillip Vetter, was born on September 21, 1971.Ī special sterilized cocoon bed was prepared for Vetter at his birth. The Vetters, who had a daughter, decided to proceed with another pregnancy. At the time, the only management available for children born with SCID was isolation in a sterile environment until a successful bone-marrow transplant could be performed. Physicians advised the Vetters that any future male children they might conceive would have a 50% chance of inheriting the disease. Their first son, David Joseph Vetter III, also was born with SCID and died at 7 months old. Vetter's parents were Carol Ann Vetter and David Joseph Vetter, Jr. The Boy in the Bubble, Retro Report, 12:25, Retro Report As he grew older, he lived increasingly at home with his parents and older sister Katherine in Dobbin, Texas. In his first years of life he lived mostly at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, Texas.

Vetter's surname was not revealed to the general public until 10 years after his death in order to preserve his family's privacy. Vetter was referred to as 'David, the bubble boy' by the media, as a reference to the complex containment system used as part of the management of his SCID. Individuals born with SCID are abnormally susceptible to infections, and exposure to typically innocuous pathogens can be fatal. Lymphoma complications from SCID, after an unsuccessful bone marrow transplantĭavid Phillip Vetter (Septem– February 22, 1984) was an American who was a prominent sufferer of severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), a hereditary disease which dramatically weakens the immune system.

The boy in the plastic bubble