Dad’s pride at his record-breaking son

Faughanvale man Kevin Duddy has spoken of his pride on the birth of his first child, a son in Japan. Baby Shota Patrick Duddy was born on December 13 at Iijima Women’s Hospital in Osaka weighing 9lbs 2ozs - and is the heaviest child born at the hospital in its 98 year history.
By The Newsroom
Published 3rd Jan 2012, 16:20 BST

He also measured 55cms in length which is 6cms above the Japanese average.

The proud father, Kevin, told the Sentinel: “I am the proudest man in Japan. The birth of my son is the perfect Christmas present.”

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Kevin is a former catholic priest who served in the diocese of Derry. Ordained to the priesthood in July 2005 he served in Bellaghy for a year before moving to the Waterside in Londonderry for five months. Kevin then left the ministry of priesthood and went to Japan in September 2007.

He works as an English teacher in the city of Nishinomiya. He married his wife Miyako in February 2011.

Kevin was asked about the record Shota holds as the heaviest baby he said: “ It is absolutely brilliant. I am 6’ 1” and his mother is 5’5”. Miyako, his mother is quite tall for a Japanese lady. The hospital staff informed us of the record. Our friends’ child is two months old and he is only two ounces heavier than Shota.”

Speaking about the first time he held his baby boy Kevin said: “ I have had many things to be thankful of, many proud moments but the day I held my son for the first time overwhelmed me with emotion. it still does when I think about it. In Japan men very rarely shed a tear but I made up for that as I remained teary eyed for the first few hours with my wife and my son.”

Shota is a traditional Japanese boys name it means Samurai.

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Kevin explained that although Japan is a very progressive country it still holds on to traditions that are centuries old.

“Unfortunately Shota will be seen as an outsider because his father is not Japanese. He will be viewed as a ‘gaijin’ a Japanese word for foreigner. We will raise him bilingual with his mother speaking to him in Japanese and I will speak to him in English.”

“It is also customary for the mother and child to spend the first month at the mother’s parents’ home. Here both the child and mother are helped by the entire family.”

Kevin could not bear to be apart from both of them so they came home for Christmas.”

The Duddy family will bring their new arrival to Londonderry in September 2012.

Related topics:Japan