Yolanda survivor, 6, loses battle vs brain tumor

MANILA, Philippines - Alro Aguipo, six, survived the wrath of Super Typhoon Yolanda unscathed.

But on Friday night, more than a month after one of the strongest typhoons in the world made landfall in the Visayas and destroyed their house in Santa Rita in Samar, he passed away at the intensive care unit (ICU) of the Philippine Children’s Medical Center (PCMC) in Quezon City.

Alro – the oldest of three children of couple Alfredo and Rosarita – was declared dead at 11:49 p.m. due to complications caused by the tumor that developed in his brain.

Alfredo, 35, rushed to PCMC yesterday morning, hoping to see his son whom he thought was still at the hospital’s ICU.

“(My sister-in-law Melanie) asked me where I was going, I said I was going to see Intoy (Alro’s nickname) upstairs. She said he wasn’t there anymore,” Alfredo told The STAR in Filipino.

“No one told me (he was already dead),” he said.

Alfredo came from San Lazaro Hospital in Manila, where his wife Rosarita is currently confined due to measles. He said his father-in-law Crisanto Baysa, 55, came to SLH and asked him to go to PCMC.

“I was hoping to see Intoy, to tell him that his mother may be discharged on Monday,” said Alfredo. “I wanted to tell him to keep fighting, that he can do it.”

‘Happy now’

According to Alfredo, he had a vision of Alro while he was with his wife in San Lazaro on Friday night, about the time the child passed away.

He said he saw his comatose son wake up, smile and talk to his father-in-law’s brother, who had just arrived in Manila from Samar also on Friday night.

“I think (that’s a message from him telling us that) he’s happy now,” said Alfredo, who said their family is starting to accept what happened to Alro.

“I just wish we had more time with him,” he added.

Alfredo described Alro – who wanted to be a dance instructor – as a smart, kind, and loving child. He recalled how his son accompanied him every time he went outside to sell fish in their neighborhood.

Trying time

According to Crisanto, the symptoms of Alro’s illness – which included headache, fever and vomiting – started manifesting last March.

The disease was diagnosed after a series of tests at the Eastern Visayas Medical Center in Tacloban City in August. Since then, the boy has been in and out of medical facilities.

On Nov. 7, a day before Yolanda struck their town, Crisanto said he relocated their entire family of nine to the nearby house of his brother, which he thought would have a chance of surviving the typhoon as it was partly made of concrete.

“Ours was made of nipa,” he said. True to his prediction, their house indeed did not stand a chance. He recalled seeing its roof being blown away, he remembered seeing their entire house collapse because of strong winds.

“But we survived,” said Alro’s grandfather. He said Alro and his four-year-old brother and two-year-old sister were covered by blankets at the ground floor of the two-story house during the onslaught of the typhoon.

Alro was already immobile when Yolanda struck.

“He didn’t cry (despite the roaring winds). He was so strong,” said Baysa, who would occasionally breakdown during the interview.

Alro, who graduated from a local daycare center this year, was supposed to start kindergarten in June. He was able to attend the first day of class, but had to be sent home just an hour later because he started vomiting, said his grandfather.

Flight to Manila

Fearing for Alro’s safety, his family brought him to Tacloban City on Nov. 22 and hitched a ride with the military’s C130 to Manila. At the Villamor Air Base, Rosarita met Junep Ocampo, one of the organizers of Oplan Hatid.

Ocampo personally accompanied the family to PCMC, even posting a photo of a still conscious Alro on social media site Facebook.

“Please pray for this boy. I told him I will buy him a basketball when he gets well. That made him stop crying despite the really bad headache that he is experiencing,” Ocampo said in his post.

Alro did not undergo surgery because he developed pneumonia days after arriving at the hospital, said his relatives.

He fell into a coma on Dec. 9 and died Friday.

Alfredo said he was able to talk to his son hours before he became comatose. He said Alro promised to “continue fighting” his illness as long as he can.

Return to Leyte

Ocampo said in his Facebook post that Alro’s remains were cleared by the PCMC and a funeral parlor, paid by the Manila city government, has taken his body for embalming. He said the wake, which will be at the North Cemetery chapel, will start today.

Air Force officials at the air base are arranging the transport of Alro’s remains and his family to their home in Leyte next week, when Rosarita is discharged from SLH.