By Iane Macasie

Nine days before he was set to graduate from college, Darwin Arevalo Villar met an accident. It wasn’t his fault—an MPV counterflowed during rush hour and the young student, who was on his way to volunteer his time to teach kids at the bible school, suddenly found himself on his back. Just like in the movies, where the characters say their lives flashed before their eyes for a split second, Darwin thought his life was over.

Now 27, he remembers how his accident exactly seven years ago changed the trajectory of his life. “I wasn’t unconscious, but it was all bright white for a good couple of seconds after I was hit, and then there was this pain,” he intimates.

Darwin recalls how he got help after he was hit. The driver of the MPV tried to escape, but a few tricycle drivers around the area tried to stop the MPV driver from leaving the scene.

“Out of guilt, he [MPV driver] brought me to his MPV, together with my belongings, and I found myself inside the vehicle that hit me,” Darwin recounts.
The recovery process took months. It was deeply difficult for him. During the process, for two to three weeks, he shared that he was spitting blood and experiencing continuous nose-bleeding, with his face swollen and bruised. He also lost sensation on half of his face. It still has not returned.

LEAVING PAIN IN THE PAST Choosing to forgive a stranger for changing the trajectory of his life has freed Darwin to move on and chart a new course

“My face swelled and got bruised like I survived a 12-round boxing fight with PacMan,” Darwin quips. It wasn’t just a physical test—his graduation and the fact that his family was counting on him to be the breadwinner after graduation weighed heavily on him. He had no choice but to “recover” faster while still healing. Darwin looked for jobs while he recuperated from the accident that had debilitated him.

“My mom and my churchmates helped me overcome the situation,” he says. “I was graduating with the imminent responsibility of being the breadwinner. So, with the accident that almost derailed me from being able to join the workforce, I had no choice but to recover quickly so I would be able to apply for a job and support the family.”
While he had a second chance in life, the accident changed him not just physically but also spiritually, mentally, and emotionally.

“My accident gave me a sense of being beyond grateful for this chance in life, to still be living,” says Darwin. “Physically, it changed me forever, as there are things I won’t be able to do or experience anymore because of the accident, but mentally and emotionally, it helped me to become more resilient against challenges and hurdles in life.” His faith, he says, is stronger.

A LIFE FOR OTHERS Darwin Arevalo Villar has devoted his life to volunteerism before lifechanging accident

He is a responsible driver, so he doesn’t inadvertently or accidentally impact someone else’s life the way his was.

Seven years after his accident, Darwin has started to move forward. As a way to give back, he now works at a humanitarian organization that aids people affected by war and armed conflict as an HR professional.

Despite his busy schedule, he still squeezes some time to volunteer for church activities at least once a month. Darwin says that despite the accident’s lifelong impact on him, he has no lingering bad feelings toward the MPV driver, even as he admitted that there were a lot of “what ifs” going through his mind in the first few months after it happened.

“Sama ng loob or hate toward the driver, no. There were a lot of what ifs during the first few months..” he admits. “I shouldn’t have volunteered for the church activity that day, I should have crossed the street more carefully. He shouldn’t have counter flowed.” But what really helped Darwin move on from the unfortunate situation was to forgive. In that way, he would not be held captive by resentment.

He says he wants to attain that peace, and attaining it meant forgiving someone and not be held prisoner by the hate, resentment, or anger that will rob the joy in life.
“It’s a conscious choice we need to make from time to time, whenever we are wronged by someone,” he says.