Catholic social media influencer Paul Kim has announced the death of his five-year-old son, Micah, after a severe case of the flu. The father of six, who shares his faith with 372,000 Instagram followers, had been providing updates since Micah was hospitalised on December 21.
Kim said the flu caused seizures and sepsis in the young boy, leading to him being placed on life support. A scan revealed that brain activity was “not present.” In a January 1 video, Kim stated that after “11 long hard days, [Micah] went home to the house of our father.”
“We are so proud of him. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart as his dad, on behalf of my family, for all the ways you guys prayed and lifted us up during this time,” Kim said. “This incredibly difficult, impossible time for our family. It's been the hardest thing I've ever been through in my life and it continues to be.”
Kim acknowledged that deacons, priests, and cardinals had reached out to offer prayers. He said, “For those two weeks we were fighting long and hard, we were consulting legal, health, ethical teams even outside the hospital. Just to make sure we weren't leaving any stone unturned.”
Micah’s death comes amid a surge of severe flu cases. The child death toll from flu in the US has risen to nine, with health officials in Ohio and Kentucky reporting their first paediatric flu deaths. The 2024 flu season has been the worst in nearly 15 years, with an estimated 7.5 million infections, more than 81,000 hospitalisations, and 3,100 flu deaths nationwide.
