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Ted DeVita was a boy who spent eight years in hospital after being diagnosed with an insidious disease. His story leaves many people sad and depressed, even though it was more than four decades ago. Today, his father occupies an important place in the world of medicine and is considered a pioneer in the field of oncology. Learn the story of Ted DeVita.
- In 1972, little Ted DeVita, only one year old, was diagnosed with an extremely insidious and at the time deadly blood disease – aplastic anemia.
- The diagnosis was made by his father, prof. Vincent DeVita, who is known for numerous studies and achievements in the treatment of cancer
- Unfortunately, despite his vast experience, the professor was unable to save his own child’s life. Currently, treatment of aplastic anemia is much simpler, and bone marrow transplantation turns out to be the main method of therapy.
- More information can be found on the Onet homepage
Aplastic anemia isolates Ted DeVita from the world
Aplastic anemia is a blood disorder in which the bone marrow fails and the elements are diminished The rest of the text is below the video.morphotic, i.e. the amount of erythrocytes, leukocytes and thrombocytes, as a result of disturbances in the proper functioning of stem cells in the bone marrow. This type of anemia has two variants: the disease can be congenital or acquired. Thus, apalastic anemia can accompany a child from birth, develop for many years, but also strike quite suddenly, manifesting itself with a lack of immunity, bleeding tendency, weakness, shortness of breath, but also easily formed bruises on the skin.
How did the disease affect Ted DeVita’s life?
The rest of the text is below the video.
Ted DeVita – the story of fighting disease
After being diagnosed with aplastic anemia, one-year-old Ted DeVita was admitted to a hospital where he was allocated a special laminar airflow room. This airflow allowed to get rid of pollutants and bacteria by maintaining a constant high pressure. Thanks to this solution, the boy was protected against factors that could easily harm his health and even life. As a result of aplastic anemia, his immune system was unable to cope with the body’s defenses, so all items that were brought into his room were decontaminated and carefully disinfected each time.
Ted DeVita lived in a hospital room for eight years. This fact did not affect his psyche and well-being well. The boy often became furious, refused to take medication and tried to sneak out of the sterile room consisting of plastic sheets separating him from other people and objects. Isolation from the world, family, peers and normal life was not easy for him. The situation was reflected in the behavior of the patient, who was alternately cheerful, hostile and aggressive.
When the opportunity arose to leave the sterile room, little Ted DeVita had to wear a special suit with a helmet, which caused him to evoke many conflicting emotions. People paid attention to the appearance of the boy in a spacesuit, resembling a cosmonaut, which was also not easy for the psyche of a small child.
- Also read: She was “dead” for several hours. How was it possible to save her?
An insidious illness made Ted DeVita live in a hospital room for eight years
At just one year old, Ted DeVita was diagnosed with this rare disease that made the baby live in a hospital room. Separated from the world, people, and anything else that might attack a malfunctioning immune system, he waited for the discovery of an antidote that would enable him to live a normal life. Despite strenuous attempts and many studies conducted by the boy’s father, unfortunately it was not possible to work out a miracle and change his fate. Ted DeVita died in 1980, when he was only nine years old. However, the cause of death was not the disease he was dealing with, but the effect of the treatment. The boy suffered iron overload as a result of numerous blood transfusions, which turned out to be the direct cause of death.
His story inspired the creation of a film plot. American director Randal Kleiser, combining the themes of Ted DeVita’s illness and David Vetter, another boy who struggled with a complex immunodeficiency, created the movie “The Boy in the Plastic Bubble”. It tells the story of little Tod Lubitch, who, due to a significant weakening of the immune system, was isolated from the world and locked in a hermetic hospital room.
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