Pastor Myung Soo Moon, who had given himself selflessly to comfort those affected by the Sewol Ferry incident and to find missing bodies from the accident, passed away at age 53 on October 3 at a hospital in Mokpo, South Korea, according to Korean media. It's been seven months since the Sewol Ferry incident, and six months since Pastor Moon had first lost consciousness.
Pastor Moon had been receiving treatment at a hospital in Seoul for three months, but after receiving news that there was no other treatment they could offer him, he was moved to the Mokpo location. However, he passed away one week after arrival in Mokpo, to the sorrow of many around him.
Pastor Moon had lived his life serving others. As soon as the Sewol Ferry incident had occurred, he served alongside with the Jindo Church Council at the site of the accident to help find missing bodies, and serve the families of the deceased students.
However, all the while, his illnesses were progressively getting worse. Mentally, he had received severe stress at the sudden sinking of the ferry, and ten days after the incident, he showed symptoms of post-traumatic-stress disorder and was brought to the hospital for treatment. But even after having completed his treatment, he went straight back to the accident site and worked to the point of losing sleep and skipping meals, hurting his health.
In early June, Pastor Moon was taken to a hospital in Seoul and was diagnosed with sepsis, an illness in which the body has an extreme inflammatory response to bacteria or other germs. His body was weakened to the point that death continually seemed imminent, and he eventually had to depend on a respirator to be able to breathe.
Korea Evangelical Holiness Church, which is the church that Pastor Moon had been a part of, also offered help to those working at the Sewol Ferry accident site. The church also did as much as they can to help save Pastor Moon, but despite their efforts, he was unable to recover.
On October 6, a casket service will take place in Jindo in honor of Pastor Moon's selfless service and life.
