BENCHWARMER

Ramon Dacawi
Nurturing an ailing boy’s dream

(Part 2 of “What’s in a name?” will be published next week as we pay tribute to the effort of Brent School children to keep alive an ailing boy’s dream - and the spirit and culture of caring outside of Valentine’s Day. – RD).

Mark Anthony Viray is in the thick of the fight of - and for - his life. The 11-year old boy is slugging it out against a heavyweight opponent in a protracted battle wherein the odds are supposed to be stacked up against him.

Mark, who dreams of flying an airplane one day, was barely 10 in May last year when doctors identified his foe – Hodgkin’s lymphoma. It’s a wily, scheming and virulent disease. It occurs when cells of the lymph nodes, which are supposed to fight disease and infection, turn abnormal and keep on dividing. Like other forms of the big C, lymphatic cancer doesn’t choose opponents its weight and size. It accounts for five percent of cancer among children.

The doctors had advised Mark Anthony’s father, Ernesto, that Round 1 of the long bout should begin as soon as possible, before the cancer cells go on a rampage and weaken his boy’s chances of licking them.

But Mark, the younger of two kids who lost their mother before they could have a clear memory of her, had to wait for two months before chemotherapy treatment could start. His father, an off-and-on taxi and family driver, went knocking on doors until he stumbled on a Samaritan in August.

Despite the delay, Mark Anthony clearly took the upper hand in the initial six rounds of chemotherapy. Temporary victory has boosted his morale to fight on .His courage has inspired strangers of all ages, the latest of whom are pupils, students, teachers and staff of Brent School. Last month, they came to work his corner, raising hopes he will eventually slew his Goliath.

Having dropped out of school to concentrate on his fight, there’s no reason for him to wake up early. Last Monday, however, he had to be at Brent School’s flag-raising rite – the first time in months now that he heard the national anthem in school. .

With him were Brent alumnus and multi-titled international car racer Carlos Anton, the kid’s 12-year old sister Kristina and their father Ernesto. Kristine was off from her first year class at the Baguio City National High School where athletes were billeted for the Cordillera Administrative Region Athletic Association Games.

After some announcements on events marking Brent’ centennial, deputy school headmaster Ursula Daoey called on Anton and the other guests to the front of the flagpole.

Anton was at Brent last month to speak on safety in driving before its high school students. He took the occasion, as he earlier did at the Pines City National High School, to present a winning formula he conceptualized outside the race track.

He told the students he had a list of kids fighting for medical deliverance. If they would pick one child to support through a fund drive, Anton said a group of young businessmen friends of his would equal what they would come up with.

Tenth grader Noelle Sanidad and her schoolmates responded, choosing the boy who wants to fly a plane. They rallied the school to what they dubbed as a “trash-ion show and sacrificial dinner” last January 13. Giving their humanitarian effort an environmental dimension, they had their teachers and parents walk the ramp of Griffiths Theatre in gowns and outfits fashioned out of cola caps, juice containers, plastic and other recyclable trash.

From the admission receipts, they set aside P5,000 which Noelle turned over to Mark Anthony last Monday. As promised, Anton’s businessmen friends matched the amount, raising the total to P10,000.

The support will be for the boy’s CTScan and monthly blood tests, to determine how far he has gone in his fight, and to check for signs of cancer cells lurking along his long way out of the woods.

Mark Anthony’s fight was delayed for two months due to the costs. Last August, he met former world traditional karate champion Julian Chees, who came home to visit his ailing mother. The fourth dan karate master treated the boy to pizza and then told him Shoshin (Beginner’s Mind), a foundation he and his martial arts students in Germany set up, would bankroll the initial chemo sessions.

Only the other week, fund from Shoshin completed the amount a family needed to bury eight-year old Jessica Tampol, a second-grader at the Rizal Elementary School who succumbed to complications of diabetes.)

Among those who sustained Mark Anthony’s fight was Freddie de Guzman, a Baguio boy and architect now in Canada. For over three years now - and even after he lost his job last year - Freddie has been supporting the ill here, among them seven-year old leukemia victim John Brix de Guzman and dialysis patient Filbert Almoza.

Last year, folksingers led by weekly columnist March Fianza belted out country for Mark Anthony. From Michigan, couple Paul and Jenelyn Balanza sent cash, a vest and a toy airplane. Others also delivered various amounts, enabling Mark Anthony to complete his first six rounds of chemotherapy. Then came the kids of Brent School. They learned from Anton that, like some of them, Mark Anthony dreams of one day becoming a pilot.

Should doctors allow, some of Anton’s pilot friends can take Mark Anthony for a flight. Even Menchu Sarmiento, executive director of Philippine Air Lines Foundation, said PAL pilots and stewardesses will be ready to help him fasten his seat belt.

The worst may be over, but the long fight has just begun, under a three-year treatment protocol prepared and being administered by his pro bono doctors at the Baguio Genera Hospital and Medical Center.

Others who would like to serve at Mark Anthony’s corner may ring up +639102437707, the number of the cellphone his dad borrowed from his uncle. They can ask for him from the DPS barangay council led by punong barangay Narcisa Laguitan and kagawad Boying de Guzman, Freddie’s younger brother. (e-mail:rdacawi@yahoo.com for comments). .