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Thursday, October 20, 2005
Gift of Life patient comes home
Teenager Karen May Maglangit Bongat of the sleepy barrio of Lomangcapan of the town of Enrique Villanueva in the island province of Siquijor flew back from the USA to the welcoming arms of her teary-eyed father Jesus and mother Loida at the Mactan Cebu International Airport in the early morning of Sept. 9.
Karen is a lucky beneficiary of the Gift of Life Program of the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Rotary Clubs, in partnership with the Hilton Head Regional Medical Center in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, USA. She stayed in the US for almost six months undergoing plastic and reconstructive surgery.
As a two-year-old child, Karen sustained severe burns all over her face, arms and body after a “petromax” kerosene lamp, used for fishing at night, exploded while being lighted by her fisherman father.
The provincial hospital in Siquijor treated Karen for more than a month. However, poverty denied the burn victim access to appropriate, albeit expensive, treatment in bigger hospitals. With her deformities and ugly scars notwithstanding, the child Karen went to study in public schools despite her classmates’ endless teasing. Thereafter, she pursued a college business course on a scholarship.
Then the Gift of Life miraculously entered Karen’s world. Dr. Edgar and wife Mary Jane Lerias of New York provided the bridge to the Northern Mindanao Association of America (Norminda) and with the endorsement of the Rotary Club of Siquijor, Karen’s case reached the Gift of Life Program in the US.
Program director Florence Albaugh started the rigid documentation process to enable Karen to fly to America, courtesy of the PAL Foundation through its director Menchu Sarmiento. Childspring International of Atlanta, Georgia took care of domestic travel in the USA.
Karen was accompanied to the USA by Gina Kay Obach. Drs. Robert A. Laughlin and Bob Agustin, the Hilton Head Medical Center’s nurses, therapists and other staff, the Gift of Life board members, the Filipino community and the host family of Mike and Debi Lynes showered Karen and Gina with a lot of care.
Karen, her once deformed lips now wearing an almost Angelina Jolie smile and reconstructed hands now being able to normally write and wave happily, was met at the PAL Centennial Terminal in Manila by Sarmiento and Margie Asok, who served as coordinator for Karen’s case. The Rotary Club of Siquijor, headed by Engr. Aniolito Samson, welcomed Karen back and thanked the Gift of Life for its precious gift to Karen.
(October 20, 2005 issue)
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