3-Year-Old With Rare Condition Who 'Defied Predictions' Dies Of COVID-19

KEY POINTS

Born with Niemann-Pick disease, Sebastian Moroney was given eight months
He contracted the virus in December 2021, and was isolating with a parent
The boy died Friday, a day before his third birthday

A three-year-old boy who "defied predictions" about his life expectancy after being born with a rare condition has succumbed to COVID-19.

The child is the youngest person in Australia to die of the virus.

Sebastian Moroney, who died Friday, was born with a rare genetic disease called Niemann-Pick. The condition affects the body's ability to metabolize lipid, resulting in a fat build-up within the cells and hampers its carrier's life expectancy, reported ABC News.

The child was born with the Type A version of the disease, which typically manifests in the infancy stage. Though doctors had given Sebastian just eight months to live after his diagnosis at birth, the boy fought and defied all odds.

"He was terminal... but he defied predictions; he was alive and interacting with the people around him. Until he got COVID," his mother Jordanna told the news outlet.

Sebastian tested positive for the virus on Dec. 23, 2021, and had to isolate with a parent for 10 days to protect his baby sister, who was just two weeks old at the time. However, a day before his third birthday, Sebastian died in isolation.

"We're so devastated. He was such a sweet little boy, and he fought so hard for so long. We were never ready to let him go," Jordanna added. The official cause of death was listed as both COVID-19 and Niemann-Pick.

Sebastian's mother has urged people to donate to a fundraiser page set for Mums 4 Refugees to honor his life. Jordanna joined the organization when she was pregnant with Sebastian. The fundraiser hit its $10,000 target in just one day and the proceeds will go to the refugee clinic at the Children's Hospital at Westmead and the Paediatric Ambulatory Care (PAC) unit at Campbelltown Hospital.

"PACs did a lot of the ongoing care of Sebby, which helped us keep him at home, and they gave him a lot of personal attention where they knew him and cared about him as his own special little person," she told the outlet.

Sebastian was one of the COVID fatalities reported in the New South Wales state, besides an unvaccinated man in his 30s. The state recorded 20,293 new COVID-19 cases Monday, making New South Wales the worst-hit region in the country.

Australia has reported that cases have breached one million, more than half of which were recorded in the past week alone.