Tragedy in the making

Two nights ago, I came across a story on social media that really shook me to the core.

- RAYMUND W. LO, MD, FPSP

Someone posted that she encountered a man and his young daughter living on the sidewalk of a major thoroughfare in Quezon City. The child was obviously unwell with a bandage around her head, and the father was trying to comfort her by rocking her to sleep.

She was very moved by the scene and decided to go back to help by buying some food for them. The man’s story was that the child grew up on the streets but was a Grade 1 student ina public school in Cubao. Recently, she asked to use a toilet but slipped and hit her head on the floor, rendering her unconscious. He rushed her to a nearby big government hospital but she wasn’t admitted due to the required CT scan for which he didn’t have the money to pay for. So, they ended up on the street again, begging for money to buy food and hoping nothing serious happens to the girl.

The woman Good Samaritan started feeling anger over their life situation, noting the irony of their location which was between a tertiary private hospital and a seminary. The system has obviously failed them, and she knew it is time for a change, a big change in our unresponsive and uncaring society.