In 1983, six-year-old David Rothenberg survived something almost unimaginable.
During a bitter custody dispute, his father set fire to the motel room where David was sleeping. David suffered third-degree burns over roughly 90 percent of his body and faced years of treatment, skin grafts and recovery.
His story became national news.
And somewhere along the way, it reached Michael Jackson.
Michael contacted David and wanted to meet him. David later remembered being around seven when Michael entered his life. What could have been one celebrity visit became something much deeper.
Michael stayed.
David later recalled that Michael welcomed him into his life, treated him as a close friend and continued supporting him emotionally as he grew older.
David Explains What Michael Jackson Became to Him
As David grew older, he eventually changed his name to Dave Dave, explaining that he wanted to free himself from the name and criminal legacy of the father who had hurt him.
Michael remained part of his life.
Dave said Michael was there whenever he needed someone to talk to and opened Neverland to him when he needed somewhere to escape the pressures surrounding his life.
Their friendship continued for decades.
After Michael passed away in 2009, Dave appeared on Larry King Live and explained what Michael’s friendship had meant to him.
He said Michael had been “almost like a father that I never had.”
It was especially powerful coming from someone whose relationship with his biological father had begun with unimaginable trauma.
Dave also corrected one misconception about their relationship. He said his mother had good medical insurance, so Michael was not responsible for paying his medical bills. What Michael gave him instead was something much harder to measure: years of friendship, emotional support and a place where he felt accepted.
Dave summed up their relationship with another simple memory.
Michael had entered his life when he was a child, opened his arms to him and, as Dave put it, “throughout the years, he never let me go.”
For one frightened little boy whose life had been changed forever, Michael Jackson did far more than make a visit.
He stayed.