Mom braves lockdown to bring sick child to hospital

Jozelle Parungao

When bruises appeared on the thighs of 2-year-old Jozelle Parungao in 2017, it took several consultations with several doctors in different hospitals before she was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia.

“The doctor in our town hospital in Bongabon, Nueva Ecija, asked me if someone in the family might have hit my daughter or if she could have fallen by accident. But since the hospital was not equipped with advanced facilities, we were referred to another hospital,” Jackielou, Parungao’s mother, told the Inquirer.

With her husband Joel, a hollow blocks maker, they went to a hospital in Cabanatuan City hospital which diagnosed her daughter’s case as “unspecified anemia.”

“We stayed there for two weeks only to receive news that they had no findings so we went to the Philippine Children’s Medical Center in Quezon City,” Jackielou said.

Parungao, who is now aged 4, is currently undergoing a 12-cycle chemotherapy treatment at the hospital. She will undergo her eighth cycle this week. Each one costs P22,000.

“Not even the lockdown due to the new coronavirus disease stopped us from going to the hospital for her chemotherapy sessions in the past two months. But unlike before when they would allow us to sleep in the corridors of the hospital or at a nearby temporary shelter, we had to go home this time. We thank our mayor for lending us an ambulance that took us to Manila,” Jackielou said.

She can be reached at 0950-9231909. Those who want to help her daughter can deposit their donations in Jackielou Parungao’s Landbank account no. 4016-0216-31.