Shiloh Pepin; fifth-grader had mermaid syndrome

Miss Pepin died at Maine Medical Center on Friday afternoon, hospital spokesman John Lamb said. She had been hospitalized there in critical condition for nearly a week.

Being born with mermaid syndrome, also known as sirenomelia, meant that the Kennebunkport girl had only one partially working kidney, no lower colon or genital organs, and legs fused from the waist down. Doctors told her parents that she would probably survive for only hours, maybe days.

Some children who have survived sirenomelia have had surgery to separate their legs, but Miss Pepin 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 recently on “The Oprah Winfrey Show’’ and other national television programs.

Earlier this month, her mother, Leslie Pepin, said her daughter came down with a cold that quickly turned to pneumonia. Miss Pepin was rushed to Maine Medical Center on Oct. 10, 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 earlier this week.

Miss Pepin 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. Counselors will be available next week to talk to students.

Through the television shows, news articles, Facebook, and other websites, Miss Pepin inspired many.

“I live in Iowa. I have cerebral palsy. I love your video,’’ 12-year-old Lydia Dawley wrote to Miss Pepin 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.’’