A 53-year-old elementary school teacher in Caloocan City sustained a bone fracture in her arm after tipping over a gutter she did not immediately see while wearing a face shield on top of her corrective lenses.
Luisa "Ma'am Lui" Arguelles was about to ride a jeepney in Quezon City after getting her modules in Pag-Asa Elementary School where she is working when the incident happened Monday.
"Naglalakad ako sa Bayan (Novaliches), sasakay sana ako ng jeep pa Blumentritt. Hindi ko nakita 'yung gutter kasi naka-salamin ako naka-face shield ako, doon ako napatid. Tapos natukod ko 'yung kamay (I was walking in Novaliches and was about to ride a jeep bound for Blumentritt when it happened. I didn't see the gutter because I was wearing eyeglasses and a face shield. So I tipped over and injured my hand)," Arguelles told Manila Bulletin in an interview.
A traffic enforcer nearby saw her fall and immediately brought her to a hospital.
"Hinanapan nila ako ng tricycle (They looked for a tricycle)," she said.
Aside from that, an alumna of the school where she is working also approached her and accompanied her up to the hospital.
"Sabi nya, 'di ba teacher po kayo ng Pag-Asa? Naging estudyante po ako sa Pag-Asa pero di ko po kayo naging teacher (She told me she recognized me to be a teacher of Pag-Asa Elementary School. She said she used to be a student there but not under my advisory)," Arguelles said.
"'Yun ang tumulong sakin hanggang makarating ako sa Orthopedic. Hindi n’ya ako iniwan kahit andon na ‘yung asawa ko. Hindi pa rin s’ya umaalis. Ivy ang pangalan, 1995 grumaduate sa Pag-Asa (She helped me until I reached the Orthopedic. She didn't leave even until my husband arrived. Her name is Ivy. She graduated 1995)," she added.
Currently, Arguelles uses cast in her left arm and is scheduled to meet a doctor for another consultation.
Despite her injury, she said she would continue working as she can still use her right hand in teaching.
"Kaya lang ito nga, nabakalan ang kamay ko. Ang sakit, kumikirot (But my arm hurts because of cast)," she added.
Despite calls of several government officials and the public to stop the mandatory wearing of face shield, President Duterte on Monday maintained that wearing it is still mandatory, both indoors and outdoors, to prevent COVID-19 infection amid threats of the Delta variant.
Duterte said that wearing of face shield "is a small incovenience," considering the "kind of aggresive infection that poses a very grave to it."
"That is a very small price to pay rather than gamble doing away with it and courting disaster," he said.