Teen with blood disorder wants to be a teacher

Aila Manalang

MANILA, Philippines — Aila Manalang, who recently finished senior high school at the Philippine College of Criminology, looks every bit like a healthy teenager in her graduation picture.

The 19-year-old Manalang, however, suffers from Beta thalassemia, a blood disorder that causes severe anemia and requires her to undergo blood transfusions monthly. It’s also a condition that she will have to deal with her whole life.

“She intends to enroll this semester at the National Teachers College. She wants to be a teacher,” her mother, Marivic, told the Inquirer.

The pandemic and the bad state of the economy, however, have made it harder for the family to find donors to pay for the teenager’s regular blood transfusions.

“While she normally needs three bags of blood a month, the number has gone down to one bag a month because of the lack of donors,” Marivic said, adding that they spend P9,000 monthly for three bags of blood, including doctors’ fees and medication.

The lack of blood has left her daughter pale. To prevent her anemia from worsening, Manalang refrains from staying up late and tiring herself.

Marivic is the breadwinner of the family, selling daing na bangus, tocino and cooked meals online to friends and their neighbors in Tondo, Manila.

Her husband used to be a laborer until he lost his eyesight in an accident at work.

Those who want to help can call Marivic at 0947-3919894. Donations for her daughter’s monthly blood transfusions can be deposited in her BDO account (Marivic Manalang, account no. 3910-3409-16).