A Family In Distress

Sadly for the Van Dongen family, they had to sit back and watch as Mark suffered months of torture and nerve pain from the attack. Mark’s brother, Bart, describes Mark’s condition to be “the acid had done serious harm to his bones, which put him in hellish pain,” as well as, “the continuous itching of his scars drove him out of his mind,” and that was aside from all the surgeries he had already been through.

Bringing Him To A Home

In November 2016, Mark’s father would make a decision to move him to a home in Gloucester, which would help take better care of him since he could not care for himself, nor could his family handle all his needs. But while he was there, he would continue to get worse after he got a chest infection. Doctors tell him he would now need a tube in his throat to remove excess liquid from his body, which would also take away his ability to talk. It was just too much for him to bear.