Sustaining an ailing boy’s dream

BENCHWARMER
Ramon S. Dacawi

Ailing 12-year old Baguio boy Mark Anthony Viray will have to use up his treatment fund against cancer to undergo two CT scans to determine whether the disease hadn’t spread to his chest and abdomen.

The tests, to be done this week, will determine the chemotherapy treatment protocol to be prepared by his pro bono doctors at the Baguio General Hospital for his second bout against Hodgkins lymphoma.

The younger of two surviving kids of a widower and taxi driver, Mark Anthony looked like he had licked those pesky mutant cells that swelled his neck lymph nodes in May the other year. Soshin Kinderhilfe, a small humanitarian foundation established in southern Germany by a Igorot karate teacher Julian Chees, worked on his corner for that initial round.

With other Samaritans coming in, it looked like a knockout victory of sorts for the boy who dreams of one day flying an airplane. Months after he completed his initial six rounds of chemo, the lump never returned.

The swelling, however, reappeared last January. His father, Ernesto, was advised to have him undergo three CT scans and prepare him for another six rounds of chemo session. Shoshin will use up over P20,000 for the three scans that started with the neck the other week. It will be left with nothing for the boy’s return to chemotherapy.

Moved by the boy’s courage Chees appealed to others for the six additional chemo cycles. It’s pegged at P9,300 per round, and should start as soon as it’s financially possible. He met the boy the other August, when the karate master came home to visit his own ailing mother.

Chees treated Mark Anthony to pizza and wrapped some for the boy’s sister, Kristine. He then left behind P20,.000 to begin the treatment. Pupils of Brent School then raised P5,000 by staging a fashion show of clothes made out of trash they recycled into gowns, coats and belts. Businessmen friends of international car racing champion matched the amount. Led by punong barangay Narcisa Laguitan, the village council of DPS here added what they raised through a concert mounted by Baguio folksingers.

Expatriate Cordillera couple Paul and Jenelyn Paclayan sent a little cash, aside from a vest and a toy airplane to keep the boy’s dream alive. Another expatriate, architect Freddie de Guzman, who grew up at DPS, also reconnected with support.

Other Samaritans may follow suit by calling up Ernesto’s cellphone number 0916 8560455 or visiting the boy at DPS barangay where his dad is rents a room for his orphaned children.
Mark Anthony and his father vowed that when his ordeal is over, he would go on with his studies towards one day becoming a pilot. When his condition has improved, he may yet take on the invitation of Menchu Sarmiento, executive director of Philippine Airlines Foundation, for a simulated flight.

As this was being written Thursday afternoon, Ernesto sent a text message: Kristine had just been released after three days hospital confinement for pneumonia. (e-mail: mondaxbench@yahoo.com for comments).