Teen with leukemia wants to become an engineer

Boris Lloyd Pancho

When Boris Lloyd Pancho was diagnosed in March last year with acute myelogenous leukemia, a type of blood cancer, he was about to complete his first year of high school.

“He was not able to take the fourth grading exam because he was always sick. Doctors themselves were clueless about what was wrong with him,” said Boris’ mother, Emma Pancho, a native of Prieto Diaz in Sorsogon province.

Upon the suggestion of a doctor, Emma and her husband, Gervacio, a gas delivery man, took their only child to a hematologist to determine why his stomach was bulging.

“Upon the release of the blood test results, we were no longer allowed to go home. I was dumbfounded. When my son heard the news, he cried with me and we comforted each other,” Emma said.

The 13-year-old Boris is on the second year of a five-year chemotherapy program at Philippine General Hospital. He undergoes up 17 sessions a year, each one costing between P35,000 and P53,000.

He and his mother have been staying at a charitable institution on UN Avenue to make it easier for him to seek treatment.

“Boris still has a long way to go. He says he misses playing basketball and being in school. He looks forward to finishing high school. He told me he wants to take up engineering in college. I’m appealing to your readers for help so that he will survive this test of faith and become the engineer he wants to be,” Emma told the Inquirer.

She can be reached at 0999-7202542. Donors can make a deposit in the Landbank account of Boris’ father (Gervacio Pancho III account number 2217 0209 59).