Surgery leaves ‘Tatay’ with huge hospital bill

Isagani Ebora (Contributed photo)

For the sake of their “Tatay,” 3-year-old Mikay and 5-year-old Banog emptied their piggy banks. Mikay was saving up for school and Banog for his seventh birthday. Instead, both decided to donate their savings to the fundraising drive for the hospital bills and medicine of Isagani Ebora, Mikay’s great-grandfather and Banog’s grandfather.

Ebora, an 80-year-old farmer from Laiban in Taytay, Rizal, recently underwent abdominal aortic aneurysm surgical repair at Philippine Heart Center (PHC) in Quezon City where he stayed at the intensive care unit for several days. According to his granddaughter, Leovie, his type of aneurysm is not common and also hard to detect.

Ebora was first taken by his son, Bong, to a hospital in Teresa after he complained of severe pain in the stomach and hip. He was confined in another hospital from July 11 to 17 but when the pain persisted, he was transferred to PHC where he underwent surgery on July 25.

Sister Nimfa Ebora, one of Ebora’s six children, said her father is a hardworking man who was able to send them to school through farming. In his youth, he served as barangay chair in Laiban and town councilor in Tanay in the 1970s.

Despite his age, Ebora has continued to farm while serving as president of the association of senior citizens in Barangay Laiban. He is also very active in civic activities and provides voluntary assistance for programs of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in the barangay.

Ebora is now recuperating at home after his surgery which left him with a hospital bill of P685,000. So far, his family has paid more than a third of the amount thanks to their fundraising efforts and donations from relatives, friends and some government officials. However, they still have a balance of P197,000 which must be settled before the end of August.

Those who want to help Tatay can call his daughter, Sister Nimfa, at 0977-6079028. Donations can be deposited in the BPI account (3419286477) of Ebora’s granddaughter, Leovie C. Ebora. —MINER GENERALAO, CONTRIBUTOR