An 11-year-old boy will never forget the lesson and the compassion he received when he miraculously survived falling from a Macopa tree and getting pierced by protruding steel bars in Calumpit, Bulacan.
(Photo shared by Marcel Bayan)
"Malaki po ang pasalamat ko sa Diyos at doon sa mga taong tumulong sa akin noong isang taon, dahil nabigyan ako ng pangalawang buhay sa kabila ng aking kakulitan," (I am grateful to God and to those who helped me last year because I was given a second life despite of my naughtiness) said Kiel Maniacop, 11, of Barangay Meysulao, Calumpit, Bulacan.
Kiel is now recovering after a branch of a Malay Apple Tree (Macopa) broke causing him to fall and his back getting pierced by protruding steel bars of a fence last year.
The incident left scars on Maniacop's body which serve as a reminder to him to be good and to be always careful.
In May last year, Maniacop and his two friends decided to pick some fruits from a Macopa tree which Maniacop planned to give to his grandmother who was taking care of him in the absence of his mother who is an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW).
Maniacop climbed the Macopa tree, straddled a branch, and started picking some fruits. But the branch he was on suddenly broke, causing him to fall straight into the protruding steel bars.
Witnesses saw how Maniacop was pierced by the steel bars and called the Calumpit Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO) for help.
When the rescue units arrived, Maniacop was already pale, was having difficulty in breathing, and was complaining of pain.
The Calumpit MDRRMO immediately tried to cut out the hollow blocks from which the steel bars were protruding while urging Maniacop not to succumb to sleep and to continue fighting with them.
After almost three hours, the steel bars were cut and Maniacop was rushed to the hospital with the steel bars still piercing his body.
The operation to remove the steel bars took two hours. They damaged the boy's liver and barely missed his spine which could have paralyzed him. The steel bars also skipped sensitive veins connected to Maniacop's heart.
The incident forced Kiel's mother, who was working in Qatar, to fly home.
Yue Lyn, Kiel's mother, said she kept the two pieces of steel bars, including the wires that pierced the body of her son, to serve as a reminder to them of the ordeal that they went through and how they survived it.