Zambales fisherman seeks help for 7-year-old son with leukemia

Dyne Brent Mora

Confirming the cause of his son’s illness two years ago was like wading through rough waters for Rhyan Mora, a 41-year-old fisherman from Masinloc, Zambales.

When Dyne Brent complained of a severe stomachache, leaving him too weak to stand or walk by himself, Mora rushed his then 4-year-old son to the “albularyo” (traditional healer) for treatment.

When that didn’t work and Dyne started losing his appetite, Mora decided to bring him to a hospital in Zambales which referred them to another facility in Pampanga due to its lack of equipment.

Initial diagnosis confirmed

Mora said his son underwent bone marrow aspiration, a procedure that tests a sample of the liquid part of the soft tissue. The results led a doctor to suspect that Dyne had leukemia.

However, it was not until the boy, who by then had grown considerably weaker, was brought to the Philippine Children’s Medical Center in Quezon City that the initial diagnosis was confirmed: Dyne was suffering from acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Now aged 7, the boy has slowly regained his health and is now able to walk on his own after completing six of the 14 cycles of chemotherapy prescribed by the doctor. Each cycle costs P16,000.

Resources exhausted

According to Mora, he has exhausted all possible resources and means to come up with the money for his son’s treatment, going from one institution to another to ask for help.

“We go back to Zambales occasionally so I can ply the waters while waiting for Dyne’s next chemotherapy session,” said the lone breadwinner of a family of six.

Mora earns between P150 and P300 a day from fishing.

“That’s just how our life is. We’ve been here and there, looking and asking for help from whoever and wherever possible,” he said.

Donations for his son’s eight remaining chemo cycles can be made through Mora’s BDO account (# 002410179610). He can be contacted at 0909-6711717.