TABLE tennis player Ian Nietes Lariba, Cagayan de Oro’s first ever qualifier in the Olympics, has another gargantuan battle to face.
The Filipino Olympian, out from Corpus Christi School in Cagayan de Oro who later became a star at De La Salle University in Manila’s UAAP Games, has been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia.
According to an official statement from the De La Salle University Office of Sports Development on Tuesday morning, May 30, Lariba is expected to undergo treatment this week.
The announcement, released via the office's official Twitter account, came just a couple of days after calls for blood donations for the UAAP table tennis star came pouring in on social media.
The 22-year-old Lariba was already set to play in the 2017 World Table Tennis Championships, which started on Monday in Düsseldorf, Germany.
But downed by heavy fever, Lariba begged off to skip this one before the whole delegation took off for the world championships.
Later, news broke on Tuesday of the Rio Olympian Lariba’s bad condition.
Friends in Cagayan de Oro tennis circle were shocked of the news as they thought earlier she was stricken only by dengue fever.
“Wala ko makatuo sa balita kay dengue ang akong nadunggan una dayon nakalitan kami dari,” said Allan Neri, one of Lariba’s local trainers.
Lariba’s parents appealed for Good Samaritans to donate type O blood at St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City where the table tennis star is confined.
Back home in high school at Corpus Christi, the well-mannered Lariba was already a phenomenal netter before she rose to stardom in the UAAP Games in her stay at La Salle University, where she finished college.
Lariba’s star shone brightest when she became the first Filipina Olympian netter to represent the country in the Rio Olympics last year in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
There, she bannered the whole RP delegation as the country’s flag bearer.
Those who wish to donate financially may send their donations at this BDO Account number 870-007-459.