Influencer Paul Kim’s 5-year-old son dies after catching severe flu

Catholic influencer Paul Kim’s five-year-old son has tragically died after contracting a severe case of the flu.

Kim, who has over 370k followers on Instagram, first shared that his son, Micah, had been hospitalised in a post shared on 21 December.

In the post, Kim wrote: "My son Micah is having a medical emergency right now and headed to the hospital in an ambulance. Please pray for his healing. Thank you."

Kim shared several health updates in the following days, explaining that his son had influenza, which prompted sepsis and seizures and required that he be placed on life support.

He also shared that scans had found that Micah’s brain activity was 'not present'.

Kim took to the social media platform to confirm that little Micah had passed away - just 10 days after that initial post - on 31 December.

He shared the heartbreaking news the following day (1 January), saying that 'after fighting 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. 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 continued,

"As much as this time I just want to have privacy and have time to mourn with my family I felt like I owed all of you an update, just out of gratitude. Micah is already in Heaven at work, seriously, so many testimonies, so many ways in which God is using the light in my five-year-old to truly save souls and change the world," the grieving father said, adding that his videos and posts have reached all seven continents.

Kim also mentioned how his profile has been viewed over 50 million times in the last two weeks, with many people reaching out to pray for his family and for Micah.

He carried on: "There's a real possibility that before Micah passed he may have already been gone. Coma, and the situation is very mysterious. His body was there but we know that his soul was already with the Lord. We were in a time of waiting. But, God's already using him in miraculous ways."

"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. In many ways we were fighting for Micah to buy him as much time as possible, until he passed. As a father, that is my duty I was called to do that. Even if in God's ultimate will it wasn't meant for him to recover."

Kim then shared that coming home without his son was one of the most 'heart-wrenching awkward experiences'.

"Coming back to a home where Micah is not running around, laughing and screaming as he usually is," he added.

In his latest post, Kim wrote in the caption: "Thank you for all the love, prayers, and compassion that a countless number of you have showed us. May God truly bless you. Your prayers for Micah were answered, but in a different way than what we had all hoped for.

"God healed and welcomed him into eternal life. He is where we all want to be."

If you have experienced a bereavement and would like to speak with someone in confidence, contact Cruse Bereavement Care via their national helpline on 0808 808 1677.