A 9-year-old boy is infected with the new coronavirus and suffers from heart failure due to myocarditis.

Last month, a nine-year-old boy in Singapore was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) after a sudden onset of an alarming health condition, leaving his family shaken by the ordeal.

The boy is on the road to recovery, but his family has been hit with huge medical bills despite using insurance and Medisave.

Source: give.asia

A boy described as a “light of joy”

Fourth-grader Matt Aaron is a “beacon of joy” to everyone who knows him, his godmother Tina Villanueva said on the Give.asia crowdfunding page.

She described him as a “gentle spirit” with “deep thoughtfulness” and “boundless love”, as well as an inspiring “enthusiasm and positivity”.

Source: give.asia

However, he suffered a “sudden and alarming” illness earlier this year.

Boy hospitalized with heart failure

On January 4, Matt started feeling unusually tired and sleepy, his mother Desiree, 42, an IT professional, told Shinmin Daily.

He fell asleep multiple times a day and complained of chest pain that night.

His family sent him to KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, where he was diagnosed with myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle.

In the early morning hours of January 5th, Matt’s heart function suddenly decreased during an examination.

Source: give.asia

As a result, he suffered cardiopulmonary collapse and heart failure, and even went into cardiac arrest during intubation.

Boy suffers from heart failure and coronavirus infection

Doctors managed to save Matt, but he was placed on venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) to keep him alive.

This is a temporary life support system for heart failure patients.

He was admitted to the ICU, where he suffered further damage and was found to be infected with Covid-19.

Source: give.asia

Therefore, he had to be transferred to an isolation ward within the ICU.

Desiree said he was “almost in a coma” for several days as he was still on life support.

The boy shows signs of recovery after nine days.

Fortunately, Matt’s heart showed signs of improvement after nine days in the ICU.

On January 16, doctors removed him from life support and dialysis.

However, the day was bittersweet as it was also discovered that he had suffered a mild stroke, affecting movement on the left side of his body.

Nevertheless, he was finally released from the ICU on January 24th and discharged on February 8th.

According to The Straits Times (ST), Matt is still out of danger and has been readmitted twice since his first admission.

The article also said his mother said there were medical reports showing Matt had myocarditis due to COVID-19. Matt’s mother said that Matt has not been vaccinated against COVID-19.

Family needs S$190,000 to pay medical bills

Matt’s family is optimistic about his recovery, but now faces daunting medical bills.

The initial cost of his treatment was S$350,000, which was reduced through insurance and Medisave.

However, the family still needs S$190,000 to cover the shortfall.

A crowdfunding appeal by Give.asia has been launched to raise funds to pay the bills. As of this writing, approximately S$37,000 has been raised.

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15-year-old Singaporean boy in need of liver donor hands out flyers on the street

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Featured image sourced from Give.asia.

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