Dr Michael Yung: Heartbreaking details emerge about slain doctor as patient tearfully tells about his brave act for her baby girl – and her message for his alleged killers

EXCLUSIVE

A devastated mother has recalled how an eminent doctor, who was allegedly murdered during a home invasion, tried to save her dying baby.

Dr. Michael Yung, 61, died after he was allegedly attacked early on Monday by young couple Kerem Aydin, 22, and Jacinta Davila, 27, at his $2 million home in Gilberton in Adelaide's inner north-east.

His family made the heartbreaking decision to withdraw his life support on Tuesday afternoon after doctors informed them that his injuries were 'not survivable'.

Freda Brown-Amituanai, who lives in Adelaide, told Ny Breaking Australia that Dr Yung fought hard to save her daughter's life after the child became seriously ill in October.

Ms Brown-Amituanai said her five-week-old daughter, Alia (Alya), wouldn't take her feedings as usual, so she rushed her to the Adelaide Women's and Children's Hospital after feeling “something was wrong”.

“By this time I was crying hysterically and they had told me to leave the room,” she said.

“As I was leaving the room, I passed out in my husband's arms because I kept crying hysterically and just wanted my daughter to be okay.”

But when she saw Dr. Yung come in with his team of specialists, she felt reassured that her daughter would be cared for.

'His urgency and presence gave me the impression that everything would be fine. From then on, Dr. Yung was my daughter's main caregiver,” she said.

Dr. Yung explained that the child had a genetic metabolic disorder and it is believed she was the first person in Adelaide to be diagnosed with the condition.

“My daughter looked like she was in so much pain, so I said to Dr. Yung, please let my daughter go if nothing works,” she said.

Dr. Yung told Ms Brown-Amituanai that Alia (Alya) had become unconscious after arriving at the hospital and that she had felt no pain.

Baby Alia (Alya) sadly passed away in the early hours of October 7 after falling into a coma.

“Dr Yung's last words to us were: 'Use this time to sit with her and say goodbye,'” Ms Brown-Amituanai said.

'I am very grateful for those few hours. Dr. Yung gave us the luxury of saying goodbye to her.'

Ms. Brown-Amituanai also shared some sobering words about Dr. Yung's tragic death.

“He could have saved countless other children who could have been our future children,” she said.

Accused killers Aydin and Davila, both from the western suburb of Thebarton, were arrested in neighboring Torrensville on Tuesday evening.

Footage showed Aydin being knocked to the ground by a plainclothes police officer around 7:30 p.m.

Davila was then seen running out of the square pushing their eight-month-old child in a stroller, before she was also arrested by heavily armed officers from the Special Tasks and Rescue team.

Police allege that just before their arrest, the couple stole a first aid kit from a Drake's supermarket on the square to treat Aydin's injuries.

The couple have each been charged with murder, serious criminal offenses and robbery with violence.

They appeared in the Adelaide Magistrates Court via video link on Wednesday.

Aydin, who wore a bandage over his bruised and swollen left eye, did not apply for bail.

Davila, who cried during her appearance, will return to court next Wednesday, where the court will consider releasing her on house arrest bail.

Her lawyer said she was the sole caregiver of the couple's eight-month-old baby and that remaining in custody during a lengthy trial would cause the child unnecessary hardship.

The couple had tried unsuccessfully to co-parent after the child was conceived during a one-night stand, he said.

The son of Dr. Yung was in the house at the time of the alleged attack and police will claim they arrived to find him 'distraught'.

His father was rushed to the Royal Adelaide Hospital where he was put into an induced coma after emergency surgery, before his life support was switched off just over 24 hours later.

On Thursday, Dr Yung's brother Simon said he did not believe the surgeon knew his alleged killers, describing him as a “truly selfless man”.

“My brother Michael had a heart bigger than himself,” he told 7News.

“He literally worked on a dirt floor to set up a pediatric intensive care unit. And God only knows how many lives he has saved or improved and that is typical of him.”

Dr. Yung was the former head of pediatric intensive care at the Women's and Children's Hospital and had practiced medicine for almost four decades.

He established an ICU in Kenya and also practiced in remote Aboriginal communities.

The pediatrician's death is the latest tragedy for his family after Kathryn Browne-Yung, his wife, a health policy expert, died suddenly in her sleep in March 2020.

Shortly after her death, Dr. created Yung a $5,000 scholarship to support indigenous medical students in the name of his “kind, thoughtful and intelligent” wife.

“Every cent he earned from his work as an observer he put into that scholarship fund,” Simon Yung said.

His family has requested that donations be made to the Kathryn Browne-Yung Scholarship Fund in lieu of flowers.