The boy who saved Michael Jackson’s life, speaks for the first time

The man you see in this photo is 24-year-old Bela Farkas. Born with a congenital disease, he is now the proud father of a healthy daughter.

Bela Farkas (Bela Farkas) is the same little boy who, twenty years ago, met Michael Jackson in a hospital in Budapest, Hungary—and whose life changed forever. Although, according to doctors’ predictions, he was not expected to live for long, with Michael Jackson’s help he has continued his life.

The Hungarian magazine “Story” has recently published a story about Bela Farkas that has become a hot topic on websites supporting Michael Jackson in recent days. The magazine, on the occasion of Bela’s becoming a father, went to speak with him. The story began on August 8 (August) 1994, when Michael went to the children’s hospital in Budapest to visit the kids. Lisa Marie Presley, Michael’s wife, accompanied him on this trip. They walked through the hospital room by room, cheering sick children with their gifts, until they came across a frail little boy whose face had turned yellow due to the severity of his illness. That child was Bela Farkas.

He was born with a congenital defect in his liver. After his birth, his mother and father abandoned him, and he was left alone in the hospital waiting for death, with no chance of surviving. But his life was saved through a liver transplant surgery—whose cost was paid by Michael Jackson.

It was not possible to perform the liver transplant surgery in Hungary, and doing it outside the country’s borders was extremely expensive. Michael immediately stepped forward and said that his newly established charity foundation, “Heal the World,” would cover the cost of the operation.

The news of Michael’s act of charity being spread by the media was one of those rare media events. The report that the E! network prepared about this little boy a year after the liver transplant is available on YouTube.

Michael himself later, years afterward, remembered Bela in the Private Home Movies series released in 2003:

“This is a memory of my time at the Budapest hospital. There I saw a little boy whose name was Farkas. He was very sick and his face was yellow, but there was a glow and a spark in his eyes. I asked his nurse what was wrong with this child. She said this child needs a liver. I asked, ‘Is he going to die?’ She said, ‘Yes, unless a liver is found for him.’ I said, ‘I won’t let this lovely angel go. No matter how hard it is, I will find a liver for him.’ So I assigned a charity organization a mission to search the world for a liver for him. It took a long time, but I said I wouldn’t give up—I wouldn’t allow this little child to die. When I received a phone call and was told that a liver had been found for him, I was very happy. He was saved. I’m proud that I was able to help him. God bless him. I love you, Farkas.”

But in this video, Michael didn’t mention everything. He never left Farkas alone. Not only did he find a liver for the boy and cover the cost of his surgery, he also continued to pay all of his medical expenses for the ten years that followed.

Bela now says: “I don’t even want to think about it. My treatment cost 15,000 dollars a year. Michael spent more than 50 million forints on me—just because he had seen me in the hospital.”

After the liver transplant surgery, Bela Farkas was taken in by a family and began a happy, peaceful life—one he had never experienced—alongside his new family.

When Michael returned to Hungary two years later, in 1996, during the HIStory world tour, he met Bela again. In that meeting, Bela told Michael: “You are like my father. Because of you, I was born again.” Michael, laughing, had replied: “So you’re my son.”

The connection between Michael and Bela Farkas continued out of the public eye and away from the media until Michael’s death. Michael would send the little boy postcards, birthday gifts, and Christmas presents, and Bela would send Michael photos and drawings. When Michael died in 2009, Bela felt like he had lost his real father and cried a lot. Having never done interviews with the media, after Michael’s passing he told newspapers:

“I know who Michael Jackson was, and I know that my life is owed to him. He is now in heaven.”

Now 24 years old, Bela became the father of a healthy baby girl in February. Doctors had told Bela that he wouldn’t survive past the age of 18, but he is continuing his life healthy and well—and he says he owes it to Michael Jackson, adding that he will always be grateful to him.

In closing, he says:

“If I could, I would ask him: among all those children in that hospital, why did you choose me?”

Adrian Grant, author of the book Michael Jackson: The Visual Documentary, recalls that he once asked Michael what his greatest achievement in life was. Michael’s answer was: “Saving Bela’s life was definitely one of the most important moments of my life.”

Source: eMJey.com / Story Magazine & MJJC