Lance: God restored my face

MANILA, Philippines - Only a week after he underwent a five-hour surgery to reconstruct his face crushed by an 80-pound barbell in a freak accident at the gym where he was regularly working out, Lance Raymundo (real full name: Reggie Ramon Raymundo) looks the way he did before that tragic incident.

These photos show how he looked on the day of the accident last March 20 (top), on the third day of his hospital confinement (center) and on the fifth day (lower) just before the surgery.

“God has restored my face,” Lance told Funfare during a phone chat yesterday afternoon.

A titanium was planted to replace the crushed parts (flattened nose, etc.) and a superfoil net was inserted to hold his eye since the socket was also broken.

“It helps that Reggie is very religious,” said former actress Nina Zaldua-Raymundo, Lance’s mother, who has been serving twice a week for the past 13 years as bather of patients at the Mother Ignacia Healing Center in Novaliches, Quezon City. “Prayer helped Reggie recover fast,” added Nina who underwent coronary bypass 14 years ago and attributed her complete healing to prayer.

As soon as his wounds heal maybe in three weeks, Lance will undergo another surgery to complete the reconstructive process.

“If you see me now,” assured Lance, “you won’t believe that I lost my face in that accident.”