マイケル・ジャクソンの命を救った少年、初めて語る

この写真に写っている男性は24歳のベラ・ファルカスさんです。彼は先天性の病気を持って生まれましたが、今では健康な娘を持つ誇り高い父親です。

ベラ・ファルカス（ベラ・ファルカス）は、20年前、ハンガリーのブダペストの病院でマイケル・ジャクソンに出会い、人生が永遠に変わってしまった少年と同じです。医師の予測によれば、彼は長くは生きられないと予想されていましたが、マイケル・ジャクソンの助けにより、彼は生き続けました。

ハンガリーの雑誌「ストーリー」が最近、マイケル・ジャクソンを応援するウェブサイトで話題になっているベラ・ファルカスに関する記事を掲載した。同誌はベラが父親になったことを機に、彼に話を聞いた。物語は1994年8月8日、マイケルが子供たちを訪ねるためにブダペストの小児病院に行ったときに始まりました。この旅行にはマイケルの妻であるリサ・マリー・プレスリーも同行した。彼らは病室を部屋ごとに歩き回り、病気の子供たちにプレゼントを贈って応援していたところ、重篤な病気のせいで顔が黄色くなったひ弱な少年に出会った。その子はベラ・ファルカスでした。

彼は肝臓に先天性欠陥を持って生まれました。誕生後、父親と母親に見捨てられ、生きる可能性もなく孤独に病院で死を待つことになった。しかし彼の命は肝臓移植手術によって救われ、その費用はマイケル・ジャクソンが負担した。

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 マイケル・ジャクソン 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 マイケル・ジャクソン, 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 マイケル・ジャクソン: 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