Mermaid girl - Shiloh Pipen will be missed

October 26, 6:47 PMCelebrity Families ExaminerMaria Fraire

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photo by Islandcrisis.net/ Shiloh Pepin Mermaid girl

The documented life of the little girl known as “mermaid girl” has come to an end. 10-year-old Shiloh Pepin died on Friday of pneumonia after being hospitalized for a week at the Maine Medical Center in Portland. She was born with fused legs, a congenital disorder known as Sirenomelia.

At birth, doctors were not very optimistic and predicted she would only survive days due to the fact that she had no genital organs, no lower colon and her legs were fused together, thus the name ‘Mermaid girl.’ She had received two kidney transplants during her short life, but was unable to undergo the necessary procedures that would separate her legs because it was too medically complicated.

Defying the odds, Shiloh proved everyone wrong and lived years instead. Her mother Leslie Pepin describes her as a “tough little thing” and that “she did everything with a zest for life” reports Seacoast online. She lived as normal a life as possible even attending , Kennebunkport Consolidated School up to the fifth grade. "She was such a shining personality in that building," said the chairwoman of the board of the regional school district, Maureen King.

Shiloh was one of only three people in the world living with Sirenomelia.   Recently she appeared on yet another documentary for TLC and on the Oprah show, Sept. 22^nd.

Watching the documentaries on TLC, Shiloh seemed undeterred by her condition considering it  an inconvenience not a hindrance to living. Truly a zest for life. Our prayers and condolences go out to her family and her friends who loved her and will surely miss her.