A 6-month-old baby has passed away after being taken on a motorcycle trip from Central Java to East Java to catch a soccer game, her parents confirmed in a cautionary tale that has gone viral.
The parents’ account of the unthinkable tragedy was posted on Twitter on Aug. 3, and went viral over the weekend. FJ, the baby’s father, said he and his wife took their child on a motorbike trip from Tegal, Central Java to Surabaya, East Java on July 30, in order to catch their favorite team from the East Java capital play.
FJ said they left Tegal at 5:38pm on Saturday, and arrived in Surabaya at 7:15am the next day. Some 500 kilometers separate the two cities.
Upon arrival, however, the baby was coughing and had difficulty breathing. The parents took her to a hospital, where she sadly passed away despite the doctor’s best efforts to save her.
“This was caused by my stupidity wrapped in ego, and my arrogance. I took my 6-month-old child from Tegal to Surabaya to catch Persebaya’s opening home game. I hope I’m the only one who is this much of an idiot,” FJ wrote in the post.
FJ shared a photo of the baby wrapped in kafan — a white cloth used to shroud the deceased as part of the Islamic burial rite.
The father said he wanted to share the story so it becomes a cautionary tale for all parents, despite the public scrutiny he may face for doing so. The baby’s official cause of death was not disclosed.
Dr Kurniawan Satria Denta, a renowned pediatrician, took to Twitter to advise parents not to take their infants on motorcycles — a common occurrence on Indonesian roads.
“Among the risks is hypothermia. Babies! Cannot! Be cold! Babies experiencing hypothermia are at high risk of respiratory and metabolic issues, and they may also lose consciousness,” he tweeted.
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