'miracle' Manny Keeps Battling - And Having Fun With Her Dads
The Sunday Age
Sunday January 1, 2006
MANNY Musu, who survived the Australian embassy bomb blast in Jakarta, has arrived in Australia after a life-saving brain operation.
As the girl splashed in the surf on a Sydney beach last week, she was supervised by two fathers who have formed the unlikeliest of friendships after falling in love with the same woman. Manny Musu, 6, became the face of the embassy bomb blast in September 2004 after photographs showed her being rescued. Her mother, Maria Eva Kumalawati, was one of nine killed in the explosion.As the extent of Manny's injuries became clear, a dramatic story unfolded, with two men from opposite sides of the world arriving at her bedside in Singapore claiming to be her father. One was Italian security officer Manuel Musu, the other NSW police officer Dave Norman. It later emerged that Mr Norman was the biological father but Mr Musu had raised Manny in Verona, Italy, convinced she was his child. Doctors initially told them that Manny would not survive 24 hours. Manny is now recuperating from a second life-saving operation on December 7. "She was without part of her skull on one side, so a resin plate had to be implanted," Mr Musu said. "The doctors warned me there was a high risk, that because the operation involved her brain, it was possible we might lose her. The operation was supposed to take two hours, but when they opened up her head, there were complications."Mr Norman, who waited by the phone for news, said "it was like reliving the operation in Singapore all over again"."She pulled through, and when the doctors again described her recovery as a miracle, you kind of think well, that's twice now . . . the girl is destined to live." Manny still has a coin-sized lump of shrapnel in her skull, which doctors dare not touch, along with 30 smaller pieces throughout herbody. While the extent of brain damage is yet to be determined, Mr Musu insists he has seen nothing to indicate problems, adding proudly: "She can count to 10 in Italian, English and Indonesian." Mr Norman said he received the best present for Christmas when Mr Musu revealed both he and Manny would fly to Sydney to be with him for Christmas. They have taken a harbour cruise, visited Sydney Aquarium and, as Manny quickly reminds both dads, "feeding ducks" in Sydney's Centennial Park.Mr Norman and Mrs Kumalawati shared a brief romance in 1999, resulting in the birth of Manny.But Mr Musu was in a relationship with Mrs Kumalawati in Italy, and was told Manny was his. Later in 2004, Mr Norman shared another holiday with his former lover and Manny in Bali. This time, Mr Norman was convinced it was forever. As Manny and her mother were collecting their Australian passports for a new life in Sydney, the bomb exploded. "We've decided that when she's older, we will tell her everything," Mr Norman said. "Until then, she'll receive all the love that two fathers could ever possibly provide."
© 2006 The Sunday Age