1968
The first experimental matched bone marrow transplants successfully treat immunodeficient patients. In both cases the matches are between identical twins.

April: A healthy baby girl, Katherine Vetter, is born to Carol Ann and David J. Vetter Jr. Her two brothers will both be born with a genetic immunodeficiency disorder that only expresses itself in boys.

1969
Raphael Wilson, a Ph.D. in experimental biology, helps treat twin boys born with compromised immune systems. He places them in a plastic isolator where they will be safe from germs.

1970
David J. Vetter III is born. His health suffers however, and his parents are referred to the Texas Children's Hospital. Doctors determine that the boy has severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) and prepare a bone marrow transfusion from his sister Katherine. Before the transfusion can help, the child dies from multiple infections.

Raphael Wilson joins pediatric immunologists Mary Ann South and John "Jack" R. Montgomery in counseling sessions with the Vetters.

1971
Carol Ann and David J. Vetter Jr. conceive another child. They look to the team of doctors at Texas Children's Hospital for assistance. If Carol Ann's genes indeed carry SCID, there is a one in four chance this child will carry the same disease.

After amniocentesis determines that Carol Ann Vetter's baby is a boy, doctors explain that he has a one in two chance of being born with SCID. The option of abortion is offered, and refused. Though bone marrow transplantation is in its infancy and requires a near-perfect match between donor and recipient, Raphael Wilson assures the Vetters that the child can be born into a germ-free environment and maintained there until a bone marrow transplant can be performed.

September 21: David Phillip Vetter is born in Texas Children's Hospital. The hospital staff has made a heroic effort to create germ free conditions. After less than twenty seconds of exposure to the world, the baby is placed in a plastic isolator bubble that will protect him from disease.

October: Doctors inform the Vetters that their son has severe combined immunodeficiency.

November: After they determine that Carol Ann can take care of the baby and David can handle the isolator, David's parents bring him home for four days over the Thanksgiving holiday. The actual drive home is a fiasco; the Vetters lead the way but the ambulance drivers turn on their siren and zoom off ahead and get lost. After about an hour, Dr. Wilson demands that they get directions from a gas station. The gas station attendant directs them to the sheriff and the sheriff dispatches a car to lead them to the Vetters' house. The rest of the visit proceeds without incident. On subsequent visits David's father will borrow a van and drive his son home himself.

1972
During a neighborhood power failure, David's bubble deflates at home. The Vetters plug the holes of the isolator to prevent further loss of air, send a neighbor out to find a portable generator and frantically contact local rescue crews. In the future, a backup generator will be installed and the fire department will know to check on David's house as a priority.

October: Thirteen-month-old David's physical development has been prodigious but his language skills are falling behind. Speech pathologist Karol Musher trains the medical staff to talk aloud to the boy, naming all the objects around them like a mother would. Within a year, his language reaches expected milestones.

1973
Dr. Mary Ann South, after a bout of illness herself, leaves Texas for a job in Philadelphia. She and the other doctors of David's original team will continue to check in with David personally and be available for consultations by his doctors for the rest of his life.

1975
February: Thirty staff members of Texas Children's Hospital gather to discuss the ethics of raising David, now 3-1/2 years old, in the isolator bubble. Although many doubts and anxieties are raised, when Dr. John Montgomery asks point blank whether their treatment of David was unethical, he is told that their work has indeed been ethical. Not long afterward, Montgomery leaves Texas for another job.

1976
Spring: The only person remaining from the original team, Raphael Wilson, suffers a heart attack. Five and a half year old David reacts strongly, probably afraid of what will happen when his caretakers are gone. Not long after recovering, Wilson takes a teaching job at the University of Portland (Oregon), where he will eventually become president. He will continue to visit David regularly. 

The ABC television network airs Boy in the Plastic Bubble, starring John Travolta as a teenager without a functioning immune system. When David eventually sees the film, he will criticize the depiction of the character's space suit.

September 21: In time for David's fifth birthday, Elaine Potts, who supervises David's diet, discovers a company that makes a canned, egg-free cake. His favorite flavor is chocolate.

1977
July: David leaves the isolator in a NASA-constructed space suit. The protective system allows the boy to walk around the hospital while maintaining a sterile environment. Later, David will wear the suit to explore his home. Soon, however, he has a growth spurt and outgrows the suit.

1980
A psychiatric report indicates that David suffers from severe mood swings, has reverted to thumb sucking and obsessive rocking, and will probably encounter difficulties in his impending adolescence. Furthermore, discussions with leading immunologists worldwide suggest that a cure will not be available for another ten years. Not long after, Dr. Ralph Feigin suggests removing David from the bubble. The Vetters consult with the original trio of doctors -- South, Montgomery and Wilson -- and request that David remain in the isolator.

1981
David celebrates his First Communion with sterilized communion wafers.

1982
December: David, growing ever more thoughtful at age 11, asks to see the stars. His family takes him out in his transport bubble and they watch the sky for 20 minutes before heading back inside.

1983
The film Return of the Jedi opens in theaters. Shawn Murphy, David's neighbor and friend, had introduced David to the Star Wars films through comic books, toys and eventually the videos when they were available. Shawn and the local theater manager arrange a private showing of the latest Star Wars film for David and his family.

Summer: Dr. William Shearer tells the Vetters about a new procedure that will allow bone marrow transfusions from donors who are not perfectly matched. The Vetters discuss the new therapy with both their children and agree to try it.

October 21: A month after David's 12th birthday, his sister Katherine flies to Boston to have her bone marrow extracted and treated. Dr. William Shearer then flies back to Houston with the marrow and David assists him in injecting the donation into his own blood. If the marrow takes hold, his immune system will be given a chance to generate itself.

1984
February 7: David had never been sick before, but now, vomiting and suffering from diarrhea, can no longer be adequately treated from inside the bubble. He agrees to let himself out of the isolator to receive medical treatment. His mother runs her gloved fingers through his hair for the first time.

February 22: Four months after receiving the blood marrow transfusion from his sister, David Vetter dies from lymphoma, a cancer later determined to have been introduced into his system by the Epstein-Barr virus which was not screened from the donation.

Letters of condolence and monetary donations for Texas Children's Hospital come in from all over the world. The hospital establishes The David Fund and The David Center to continue research in pediatric immunology.

1985
October/November: People magazine publishes a two-part cover story on David, co-written by Carol Ann Vetter. At the same time, the Journal of the American Medical Association publishes a commentary by Reverend Raymond Lawrence questioning the ethics of David's treatment, as well as an editorial response defending the medical practice.

1990
The David Elementary School in Woodlands, Texas, opens. At the dedication, Carol Ann says the school "is an answering of our prayers that [David's] spirit continues on Earth."

1993
Using blood samples taken from David and other patients, scientists isolate the gene that carries SCID. David's greatest legacy is in medicine. By altering this gene in the stem cells of babies born with SCID, doctors are able to cure the disease (although some of the treated patients develop leukemia as a side effect of their cure).

2001
Bubble Boy, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, opens to bad reviews and criticism from children who suffer from immunodeficiencies and their doctors and families.