In 'Our Baby Is Born Again,' actress Park Bomi and former soccer player Park Yohan, a married couple, opened up about their feelings after sending their first son Simon to heaven.
On the 28th, the TV CHOSUN variety program 'Our Baby Is Born Again' (abbreviated as Oaagi) aired, featuring Park Bomi and Park Yohan. The two, who met through an introduction from actress Lee Yerim, who had been in the same agency as Park Bomi, married in 2020 after about a year of dating. They became parents when they welcomed their first son Simon in 2022. However, Simon passed away at just 15 months old, drawing sorrow.
At the time of filming, Park Bomi was 34 weeks pregnant with their second daughter, 'Seolboki' (fetal name). She forced a smile and began, "Our Simon really liked talking. He actually wanted to do it more. Of course it was hard and sad, but he was a child we were so proud of and wanted to boast about," She added to the grief, saying, "The hospital could not identify the cause. We still do not know the exact cause of death. But the hospital took every measure it could. It wasn't even a fever disorder and they couldn't find the cause."
In fact, Simon had been playing happily until the day before. But a sudden fever did not go down despite alternating fever reducers, and afterward Park Bomi visited the pediatrician and the emergency room in succession, but he went limp in the car on the way to the emergency room. Although his heart started beating again after about 40 minutes of effort in the emergency room, the child did not regain consciousness and died after spending a week in the intensive care unit. Park Bomi recalled, "I think Simon's heart started again to give his mom and dad time,"
Park Yohan cried even more, feeling guilty that he could not stay by Simon's side often because of a busy regional match schedule. He recalled, "I think the saddest moment was three days before my match. From then I was in Namhae and we had video calls. But Simon cried. He never normally cried, but for some reason he cried that day." Park Bomi added, "When I thought about it later, I thought Simon really wanted to see his dad."
About the final farewell with Simon, held over three days of funerals, Park Bomi explained, "I heard most babies don't have a three-day funeral. But I heard other stories and I wanted a three-day funeral. I wanted more people to see Simon. Because Simon liked swimming, we had a sea funeral and it was so beautiful. It was supposed to rain that day, but when we went to scatter Simon at sea the weather was so clear. Our family bravely sent him off thinking Simon arrived safely in heaven."
Park Bomi said, "I came home, opened the closet and kept crying. It smelled like a baby, and all of Simon's things were there, but Simon himself wasn't. The traces of Simon remain," choking up, then added, "After that happened I received a huge number of messages. More people than I expected had gone through the same thing and they sent encouragement every day. I thought if we could help even one of those people it would be good. Then Simon would be doing something good and we would feel very proud."
After a fifth round of in vitro fertilization due to infertility, Park Bomi, who became pregnant with their second child, said, "Our original goal was to have four children. But because of our age, we're thinking of having just Seolboki's younger sibling. That's why we kept Simon's clothes. Everything belonged to Simon—the car seat and everything. Usually people try to erase those traces, but I hated that."
Finally, footage was shown of Park Bomi giving birth to a healthy second daughter, 'Seolboki,' on the 2nd. Her name is Sieun. Park Bomi and Park Yohan added tearfully, "Sieun, we love you," and "Simon, in just one month a pretty younger sibling will be born, so watch over us from heaven. We only want them to grow up healthy. Watch over mom and dad. We will definitely meet again." <
[Photo] Provided by TV CHOSUN.
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