Micah received his first holy Communion, with a priest dropping “some Precious Blood in his mouth,” as well as the sacrament of confirmation, Kim said.

“Christ prepared his heart through those sacraments,” said Kim. “That’s what the sacraments are about. It’s not our work; it’s God’s work through the church.”

The battle for Micah’s healing continued over the next several days, showing signs of an upswing even as the child was placed on life support.

On Christmas Day, Kim and his wife appeared together in an Instagram video filmed at the hospital, with Kim stating doctors had reported Micah’s heart vitality had increased, even as no brain activity was detected.

On the eighth day of the illness, Kim wrote that “Micah is a fighter,” showing “steady vitals” as well as slowly improving lung functioning, although he remained on a respirator.

But two days later, Kim advised that Micah had his “first of three brain death tests,” and that “nothing showed that he was responding.”

Describing the moment as “the eleventh hour,” Kim continued to call for prayer, not only for Micah’s healing, but so “that God would be praised through this entire process.”

In his Jan. 1 Instagram video updates, announcing his son’s passing the previous day, Kim said, “God is using the life of my 5-year-old to truly save souls and change the world.”

Kim pointed to “people from all around the world” and from “every continent, praying for my boy throughout this ordeal.” He thanked everyone for their prayers.

He described how another family decided to have their own critically ill infant, who was receiving treatment at the same hospital as Micah, baptized — with Kim performing the baptism after consulting with his spiritual director.

“How does this happen in the midst of all that we’re going through?” Kim pondered in his Jan. 1 message.

He believed that Micah — who may have “already been with the Lord” due to the “catastrophic injury to his brain” — had “set up that arrangement.

“He prayed and interceded in heaven … for that baby girl,” said Kim.

While admitting that he has “a lot of questions for God,” Kim said, “Micah is not dead. Micah is alive. He is alive in Jesus Christ, who saved him, who redeemed him on the cross, who prepared him in every which way, who gave the grace to my wife, as his parents, to prepare his heart for eternity.”

And, said Kim, “That’s the greatest gift, aside from life, that we could have ever given him.”

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Gina Christian is a multimedia reporter for OSV News. Follow her on X.