A cash-strapped dad from Santa Maria, Laguna, whose legs have been paralyzed due to a motorcycle accident, has assembled an improvised wooden bicycle to surprise his 3-year-old son.
Anton Mendoza Jr., 38, shared a Facebook post on Tuesday, Oct. 20, showing photos of the improvised bicycle he made for his youngest son, Anjo, and captioned: “Di [makabili] ng bike ang bata, gawa na lang muna si papa. Kahoy muna [ang bike mo]. Masaya [ka na].
(The child cannot afford to [buy] a bike, so papa has to make it for now. It’s just a wooden bicycle. You are happy now).”
To build his son’s bicycle, Mendoza used recycled materials such as scrap woods and wheels from old broken toys.
“Hindi po kasi ako nakakapaghanapbuhay kasi pilay na ako tapos ang asawa ko ay [nagtatrabaho bilang] kasambahay po. Naisipan kong gumawa ng bike na kahoy para kahit papaano ay mapasaya ang aking anak (I have not been earning a living because I am disabled, while my wife works as a housemaid. I thought of making a wooden bike to somehow make my child happy),” Mendoza told INQUIRER.net in an interview.
Mendoza used to work as a construction worker in Laguna, but he had to leave his job after he figured in an accident in 2017. For now, his wife, Joenamey, has been working as a housemaid in Makati City to make a living for their family.
They have two sons, Anthony Harvey, 14, who is currently in Grade 9, and Anjo. According to Mendoza, Anthony has also been struggling with his distance learning classes as he has no gadgets to use. Anthony only borrows Mendoza’s phone from time to time when needed.
Mendoza said his family really struggles to earn enough to cover their daily expenses: “Minsan po may nagbibigay tulong na mga kapatid ko [pero] mas lamang po ung nangungutang lang po [kami] kaya bago pa dumating ang sahod ni misis, [halos wala na ring natira dahil ipambabayad na rin ito].”
(Sometimes my siblings give us help, but most of the time, we borrow money from our acquaintances, so there is almost nothing left from my wife’s salary as most of it is used to pay our debts.)
Life may be full of challenges, but Mendoza said he keeps on reminding his sons to study hard as it is difficult nowadays to be uneducated. Meanwhile, he is also thankful to those who have been sending them help and assures that he will not waste it and use it to benefit his family. /ra
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