Maine fifth-grader was born with rare 'mermaid syndrome'

PORTLAND, MAINE -- Shiloh Pepin, a girl who was born with fused legs and who gained a wide following on the Internet and national TV, died Oct. 23 at Maine Medical Center in Portland. She was 10.

When she was born with sirenomelia, or "mermaid syndrome," doctors predicted she would survive only days, at most. She had been hospitalized in critical condition for nearly a week.

Shiloh had one partially working kidney, no lower colon or genital organs and legs fused from the waist down.

Some children who have survived sirenomelia have had surgery to separate their legs, but Shiloh did not because blood vessels crossing from side to side in her circulatory system would have been severed. She had received two kidney transplants, the last one in 2007.

Her story was featured on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" and other national TV programs.

Leslie Pepin, Shiloh's mother, said this month that her daughter had contracted a cold that quickly turned into pneumonia. On Oct. 10, Shiloh was rushed to Maine Medical Center, where she was given antibiotics and placed on a ventilator.

For a while, Leslie Pepin said, things were looking up. "She's a tough little thing," she said of her daughter.

Shiloh was a fifth-grader at Kennebunkport Consolidated School. "She was such a shining personality in that building," said Maureen King, chairwoman of the board of the regional school district.

Shiloh also had fans online.

"I live in Iowa. I have cerebral palsy. I love your video," 12-year-old Lydia Dawley wrote to Shiloh on Facebook. "You have a great personality. I wish you lived close so we could be friends and hang out. You opened my eyes because you are so brave."

-- Associated Press