Singaporeans pay tribute to ‘Courageous Caitie’
Funeral service for Caitlin Soleil Lucas, 3, the Filipino girl who arrived in Singapore looking for a cure for her mystery illness. She was later diagnosed with a rare childhood leukaemia. She died today, on March 31 after suffering from breathing difficulties. MARK CHEONG/SINGAPORE PRESS HOLDINGS
SINGAPORE—She will be remembered as a courageous little girl who never failed to smile despite her battle with a rare form of leukemia.
More than 200 people packed a funeral parlor in Sin Ming Drive Thursday night to pay their respects to three-year-old Caitlin Soleil “Courageous Caitie” Lucas, who died just before Thursday noon.
READ: ‘Courageous Caitie’, girl with rare blood cancer, passes away
She and her family had flown to Singapore from their home in Manila in late February in the hope that doctors here would be able to diagnose Caitlin’s mystery illness, which first surfaced as insect bites on her feet and then led to a host of life-threatening symptoms.
READ: Filipina girl with ‘mysterious’ illness in Singapore hospital for treatment
Her condition was later found to be juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia, a cancer that affects about one in a million children.
She had been receiving treatment for her illness, but on Thursday morning had to be sedated and intubated after suffering breathing difficulties due to a lung infection.
Just before Thursday noon, her parents posted on her Facebook page Courageous Caitie: “Today our daughter has gone to Jesus.”
It was followed by their last family photo, in which her 30-year-old mother, Christine Del Feliz Lucas, is shown embracing Caitlin, with her 34-year-old father, Jericho Jose Lucas, by their side.
From 7:30pm, friends, church members and even strangers who had been following Caitlin’s Facebook page turned up to pay tribute to her. The crowd spilled outside the hall, with some standing in the carpark.
“She was an inspiration to many of us,” said Philip Cu, a nurse in his 30s. “She was always calm and tackled her condition with such courage.”
Many brought flowers in shades of pink, which they placed in front of her white coffin next to a sketch of her portrait. There were also pink and purple balloons tied up in the hall.
As a church band led the crowd in songs of worship, Caitlin’s parents arrived at about 9pm and were visibly touched and overwhelmed by the huge turnout.
Feliz broke down several times as she urged the crowd to move closer into the hall. Later, she wept beside her daughter’s coffin and whispered: “I’m so proud of you. Look at all the people.”
Research manager Apple Dela Rosa-Dollente, 30, said: “I don’t know the family personally but I visited Caitlin once when she was in the hospital. I was really touched by how she always had the strength to smile even when she was in pain.”
The family will fly back to the Philippines on Friday for a wake. Caitlin will be cremated on Sunday.
