Yellow For Seth: Boy with rare ‘bubble’ disease still awaiting bone marrow transplant

The 5-year-old with “bubble boy” disease who asked supporters to wear yellow before his second bone marrow transplant is still awaiting the procedure due to health problems.

When Seth was born, doctors discovered that he had no immune system, and has had to be kept in sterile, germ-free, isolation from the outside world.

After a bone marrow transplant to try and give him a normal life went wrong, he has been living in a bubble – unable to leave his hospital room for danger of picking up an infection or an illness.

“Seth has not had the transplant yet, he suffers with some other health issues and they cannot undergo transplant until he is well enough to do so,” Ruthven said today in an email, adding that Seth had gallstones and a small infection in his lung.

“It’s vital that Seth is well enough to undergo the transplant,” she said. “If he’s not, he might not make it—but that’s not even worth thinking about. What’s important is that he gets better. Doesn’t really matter when.”