It was only last week when Coka’s parents made the heartbreaking decision to stop administering “strong heart medicine” which was helping prolong their baby girl’s life. Now it seems that the 1-year-old is at the end of her journey.
The decision was made following their doctor’s advice, after the baby’s heart stopped twice Tuesday night. At around 7 pm, the 1-year-old girl Coka’s heart rate suddenly dropped until she flatlined twice, her mother announced on Facebook Wednesday morning. Queen Mary Hospital medical staff said then that the toddler may only have one to two days to live.
Coka’s parents have been keeping a Facebook page named “CoKa.Kona Baby” with updates about the infant’s condition since March, hoping that Coka’s journey would inspire others to share their stories and raise awareness of intestinal diseases.
Coka, a twin girl, was born prematurely after only 31 weeks of pregnancy (about nine weeks early), and went through three surgeries as a newborn. Whereas her twin sister, Kona, had been born without issues, Coka was diagnosed with necrotizing enterocolitis, a life-threatening intestinal disease affecting premature babies.
Only one-tenth of Coka’s small intestine remains after surgery, requiring her to live on liquids during her long-term hospital stay, while a tube was put in her chest to drain blood clots.
Coka’s mother invited their 4,700 Facebook followers to send motivational voice messages for Coka to listen to as she fights through her final days.
On Tuesday, Coka’s mother also wrote: “Love you forever, [we’ll] always remember everything about you.”
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