Papa hurt his leg while bending over for something 2 weeks ago. I am recalling what happened to Papa last 1986...
1986, Midsayap, Cotabato
---
Location: Main Road
Papa and his colleagues were walking back to their office. They just came from a bar after a drinking session when a gun shot rang in the air.
"Bang!"
---
Location: Dorm
Mama heard a gun shot not too far awar from our dormitory. I was fast asleep during this time. My other siblings where still studying. Ate Tet was still in Baguio, Cheche was in Los Baños, and Kuya Alvic, was in Cotabato City. All of them were in colleges and as the youngest of the siblings, I am with my Papa and Mama here in Midsayap Town.
Mama's instinct told her something just went wrong. Papa's flashed thru her mind. She went to the drawer to get a shirt and jeans on. She started praying. "God, please take care of him..."
----
Location: Main Road
All of them checked on what just happened and Papa, as the highest official from the group, asked "Sino tinamaan?!" He instinctively turned to check on his colleagues when he felt a pain in his abdomen.
Papa slumped thru the street as his colleagues picked him up. They do not know where he got shot exactly but they know he was bleeding in his abdomen. Someone was instructed to tell Mama of what just happened. They were trying to get someone who knows how to drive that time. Papa's driver was not part of the session. No one else knows how to drive.
----
Location: Dorm
"Tok tok tok.."
Someone was knocking on our dormitory door. Mama went to open the door and saw Papa's employee in near tears.
"Ma'am... " she tried to speak but she chocked in the process.
"Si Sir mo ano?!" Mama asked as if she knew what just happened.
They rushed to Papa's office to meet the others.
When they got there, Papa was still speaking and was telling the others to calm down. Mama was able to get Dagul, the son of the dormitory owner to drive them to the Regional Hospital in the city more than 20 Kms away from our town.
Everyone was tense. Dagul was driving at almost 140kms per hour. The Papa spoked "Dagul, dahan dahan naman. Pag ako namatay dahil nabangga tayo, mumultuhin kita."
---
Location: Dorm
Papa's employees where already there. I woke while everyone was crying. My puppy was urinating everywhere. I asked what happened and they just hugged me and cried. Someone started to lead the group in praying for the rosary.
----
Location: Regional Hospital
Papa was already in the operating room. Mama just kept on praying. She prayed that Papa be ok. Mama never worked all the years since Papa married her. We lived with Mama always on our side while Papa did all types of Jobs. Some of them simultaneous. His promotion to Regional Manager made us be with him, if not we could have been still in Cabanatuan City living a difficult life.
After almost an eternity waiting for the operation to be concluded, the doctor informed Mama that Papa will be ok.
The gun shot hit papa a few millimeters away from the spine. It also went to bore a hole in his small intestine and it needed to be cut and then put together.
---
The gunman was only 2 meters away when he pulled the trigger. There was supposed to be another shot to finish Papa off but luckily the pistol used was locally made and it jammed.
The gun shot was enough to cause Papa paralysis in his lower extremities. He needed rehab to gain back some balance to be able to walk. He got ok eventually but he never got back the balance he normally had. He limps his way a little without the use of the cane or his shoe braces. The event made him lost control of his foot because of destroyed nerves. It also gives him pain occasionally because of the nerve endings reporting irregular signals.
He got back to working though and he was ok eventually.
---
2004, Tierra Grande, Lawa-an, Talisay City, Cebu
Two weeks ago, Papa was bending to cut his toe nails when felt a sudden pain in his leg.
They had an Xray and there were no results. The pain was stil there and his doctor advised that he take an MRI. The MRI result indicated a damaged nerve. He lost whatever remaining balance or strength to walk. He is under therapy again and if he fails to get back to the type of walking he had, he might consider retirement.
