[UPDATED 23 December 2019] Two years after baby Loc Pham Duc Loc, the orphaned Vietnamese baby that was treated in Singapore after being found abandoned at a temple, he has passed away. He was 3 years old.
Doctors confirmed the baby died from an infection while he was being treated at a hospital in Vietnam.
In July 2016, the baby with hydrocephalus was found abandoned at Van Buc Temple in Vietnam.
His passing was announced via a Facebook post—by a page created to give updates on Baby Loc’s condition—on Friday, 20 December 2019.
‘Absolutely Heartbreaking’ said MP Mr Louis Ng
MP for Nee Soon GRC MR Louis Ng, one of the Singaporeans who helped call for donations on social media and visited Loc several times said in a Facebook post that it was “absolutely heartbreaking” that the child had passed on after “suffering so much.”
Baby Loc’s plight
Kind monks took baby Loc Pham Duc Loc under their wings and housed him with more than 90 orphans living at the temple. Loc was later treated at two hospitals in Vietnam where his condition was declared pronounce incurable by the doctor after two surgeries.
The Vietnamese community in Singapore then suggested that he be brought to Singapore for treatment.
Baby Loc was later on admitted to KK Women and Children’s Hospital, where his condition improved after several procedures.
Give Asia page set up
PHOTO: GIVE ASIATo raise more money for his operations, a crowdfunding campaign on Give Asia was set up by Ms.Nguyen Hong Thao, who runs Thien Long Vietnamese Restaurant in Singapore.
Singaporeans rushed to help this little baby, and to spread awareness of his plight.
Nee Soon GRC MP Louis Ng, visited baby Loc, and was touched by what he saw. He later put up a post on Facebook praising the caregivers, “I also met the Singaporean, her friends and the temple monk who have been helping him. These are selfless individuals with very big hearts and I don’t think we can ever thank them enough for the help they have given to baby Loc.”
PHOTO: FACEBOOK/LOUIS NG
“I wish baby Loc never learns about how he was abandoned by his parents, how he was almost left to die. I’m grateful that chapter of his life has passed and the new chapter is about hope, about being surrounded by people, doctors and nurses who care and love him, about having a chance to live.”
“I don’t think there’s a worse situation for a baby to be in if there’s anything I can do to help I should,” he writes.
Hydrocephalus or “water on the brain”
Baby Loc had hydrocephalus, a brain condition that happens when cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) can’t drain from the brain. It then pools, causing a buildup of fluid in the skull.
Hydrocephalus (also called “water on the brain”) can make babies’ and young children’s heads swell to make room for the excess fluid. If left untreated, it can lead to brain damage, a loss in mental and physical abilities, and even death. With early diagnosis and timely treatment, though, most children recover successfully.
Some signs of congenital hydrocephalus are:
- an unusually large head
- a thin and shiny scalp with easily visible veins
- bulging at the soft spot on top of a baby’s head
- downward-looking eyes
Also READ: 18-month-old baby with hydrocephalus
(Source: The Straits Times, The New Paper, KidsHealth, NHS)