MANILA, Philippines ? At the tender age of 3, Derwyne Ann Velasco had been diagnosed with acute leukemia.

Her parents, Darwin and Julie Ann, and grandfather Wenifredo, are requesting Inquirer readers for help to pay doctors? and medicine bills that continue to mount by the day.

?I pity my granddaughter. Please help me find donors to save her life. She has been in and out of the hospital since February last year,? he appealed last Thursday, calling from their residence in Pavia Street, Tondo, Manila.

The family has kept a close watch on Derwyne?s blood count at the University of Santo Tomas Hospital in Sampaloc, Manila. ?She does not have enough red blood cells,? Wenifredo added.

The red blood cells are the body?s principal means of delivering oxygen from the lungs to body tissues through the blood.

With a mother who works as a saleslady and a father who is a part-time photographer, how can they pay the rising hospital bills of their daughter, Winifred told the Inquirer.

Generous individuals can contact Wenifredo Velasco at his mobile number 09183011070, or at 252-8886. Deposits can also be made to his Security Bank account number 0503375315252.