Finally, hope for a young patient
Brenden Whittaker woke in his room at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, drenched in sweat. It was 3 a.m., and his mother, Becky Whittaker, watched as the nurse tried to take his temperature with an electronic thermometer, then left to fetch an old-style mercury one that registered higher. It read 105. “I really thought, ‘We’re going to lose him to this disease,’” Becky recalled. “‘He’s 16 years old, and he’s going to be one of the statistics.’ … He was so, so sick.” The nurse helped Brenden change out of his sweat-soaked clothes before leaving the two alone in the dark of that too-early morning. Becky settled into the rocking chair next to the bed. “He started talking to me about planning his funeral, where he wanted to be buried, what kind of funeral he wanted,” Becky said. “He said, ‘Mom, if you think I’m going to die, will you tell me? I’m begging...