A few years ago, 42-year-old Sahatorn Naovaratpong started to think about retirement. The successful and wealthy businessman was hankering after a bigger family, since he and his wife had only one teenage son.
Sahatorn Naovaratpong touches a photo of his late daughter Einz, who he hopes will one day return to life. (Photo by Somchai Poomlard)
The family bought plots of land in Phetchaburi province to start a life of repose away from the capital.
In February 2014, not long after Einz’s first birthday, she started to vomit and lost her appetite. Her father thought she had some kind of allergy or food poisoning.
One morning the next month, Einz failed to wake up. The family rushed the unconscious toddler to a Bangkok hospital. She was given a CT scan which discovered an 11cm tumour on the left side of her brain. The diagnosis was ependymoblastoma — a rare form of childhood cancer.
Craniotomy neurosurgery was performed that day on the family’s insistence, despite the fact physicians warned she could develop paralysis, be left in a vegetative state for life, or worse. They were determined to fight the cancer.
Between then and December last year, Einz had numerous brain surgeries and radiation therapies. Her responses to the treatment fluctuated, allowing her family to hang on to hope that her life could be extended.
“Einz had two brain surgeries within the first week of the tumour being found and was in a coma after losing 80% of brain texture on the left side of her skull,” Mr Sahatorn explained.
“However, in October, she gained consciousness and was showing signs of memory. Her expression was like she wanted to play with us. She could respond using her right hand when we touched her.
“But in November, the tumour spread to her brainstem. We all knew that was the time bomb.”
In January this year, Einz stopped responding to chemotherapy and radiation. She developed partial paralysis and was on life support. Medical staff declared her clinically dead when all signs of brain function ceased, recommending that she be removed from life support.
On Jan 8, Mr Sahatorn took Einz home, because he wanted to remove his daughter’s life support himself. She died aged little more than two years old.
“She is my daughter. I gave her life and I had to be responsible for her passing,” he said.
Two days earlier, two scientists from Alcor Life Extension Foundation in the US state of Arizona arrived in Thailand to prepare for a “cryonics” procedure.
As a member of the foundation, Mr Sahatorn was determined to provide his daughter with any opportunity to have a second chance at life.
Her remains are undergoing “cryopreservation” in the hope that in the far — or near — future, scientific progress could find a way to beat her cancer.
As Einz was proclaimed dead, she became Alcor’s youngest “patient” and the first Asian among its 133 people frozen in time.
“After I removed the ventilator, she gasped for breath for another hour or so. She was such a fighter,” Mr Sahatorn said.
“After her breathing stopped, forensic personnel confirmed her death and issued a death certificate. That’s when the preservation process began.
“Her body was put into an ice bed, then a substance was injected to prevent her blood clotting, while her heart was kept pumping to maintain her blood flow.
“Next, a cell-preservation substance called ‘cryoprotectant’ was injected into her brain to prevent the cells from being damaged by the freezing process.
“Then we said goodbye as Einz was put into a special capsule, tailor-made for her, which was closed at a temperature of -90C.”
Einz’s body remained in Thailand for one week before being flown to Alcor’s headquarters in Arizona, where she will be kept for as long as possible.
During that week, a memorial service was held for the little girl. Guests were asked to attend wearing white and pink. “I hired a wedding organiser for the event, not a funeral service,” Mr Sahatorn said.
In legal terms, Einz’s father said her body has been “donated for medical purposes”, while he arranges the relevant international documents required.
The team at Alcor are focusing on preserving her brain first and foremost, which Mr Sahatorn said is where “human consciousness lies”.
The family’s decision to freeze their child has sparked controversy in Thai society since the news broke last week.
They have faced accusations of engaging in unethical medical procedures and of religious misconduct. Critics claim that preserving Einz’s body is overstepping the boundary between life and death, and is against the laws of nature.
Mr Sahatorn, a self-proclaimed sci-fi obsessive with a PhD in engineering, welcomes different views, but is firm in his own beliefs.
“Thailand is not a scientific society, that is a fact. But I grew up differently, I believe in science,” he said.
Ultimately, Mr Sahatorn hopes the definition of “death” could shift as science progresses.
“Death in a medical environment is when heart failure occurs or brain activity ceases. But biology shows that human cells continue working even after that,” he said.
“Cryonics might be a sensitive issue in Thai society, but science is the discovery of nature, not something beyond it.”
During the months of Einz’s fight with cancer, the family set up a fund for cancer research in cooperation with Ramathibodi Hospital.
“The cost of Einz’s treatment is far higher than I can tell,” he said. “But I hope that in the future, medical research will bring more accessible cancer treatment to all.”
Almost three months since Einz’s death, Mr Sahatorn said he sleeps beside her every night. Her stem cells are being kept in a liquid nitrogen bucket in the family home, next to her crib, which contains a small photo of the child alongside her pillows, blankets and a few dolls.
Asked whether his daughter is dead, he said: “She is in hibernation. Although I am not saying that I will see her again. We probably won’t ever meet again.”