Two fathers have issued an urgent warning to other parents after their miracle baby tragically passed away just a week after his first birthday.
Leigh and Justin Khoo from Australia welcomed their miracle baby Owen - who was 11 weeks premature - in March last year.
The fathers explained that their son weighed 3.17 lbs when he was born via a surrogate mother in Cancun, Mexico.
Owen was blind from birth after receiving a diagnosis of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), with the dads describing their son as "strong, brave, and resilient".
Leigh and Justin gave everything to their son, but just a week after his first birthday things took a horrendous turn for the worst.
Documenting the tragedy via a GoFundMe page, the dads explained how their son sadly lost his life.
"Owen was our beloved son, our little warrior, and beautiful boy, who was tragically taken too soon after contracting meningococcal disease, with our [final] goodbyes to our warrior just over a week following his 1st birthday in March 2023," they penned.
They continued: "Our love for Owen continues to grow day by day, even in the darkest times of our grief and the great loss we could have never imagined, though we both have so much more love to give and are planning on giving Owen a younger sibling in the future, though this dream and goal seems all to unreachable at present given the hurdles we need to undertake."
Writing on their Instagram page, the dads issued an urgent warning to other parents: "We would encourage all parents to make themselves aware of the signs and symptoms and know that the rash doesn’t always appear."
They added: "Owen didn’t have it and as scary as it as in Owens case, it was very mild and then attacked in ways so quickly that we can’t fathom that we now face grieving his loss. Always follow your gut instincts, seek professional help if in doubt and advocate for your children."
The parents have set a target of $100,000 to aid them to give Owen a sibling via surrogacy, which includes the legal paperwork that goes with it.
Leigh and Justin added on the fundraising page: "As gay parents and people, we have already faced incredible challenges in order to grow our family prior to Owen being born, with 4 years of planning, having to undergo legal meetings, insurance, counselling sessions, medical reviews, excessive government paperwork and financial savings and hardship to start our journey to parenthood."
The dads continued that they do not expect anybody to part with money for them, but they also want to raise awareness of Meningococcal and ROP blindness in Owen's memory.
Our thoughts go out to Leigh and Justin, and we hope they are able to give Owen a sibling in the future.
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