May 21, 2024
New life and new hope with new limbs
By Joy Rojas
In February 2007, Rodello Garillo was driving to Aurora, Zamboanga del Sur, when he chanced upon a freak accident along the highway of Barangay Lacupayan in the remote town of Tigbao. A truck carrying liquid sodium dioxide reportedly lost its brakes and veered off the road before it exploded, engulfing an oncoming passenger-filled bus in flames.
Instinctively, Garillo ran out to help, not knowing that the truck would explode a second time. That’s when he needed rescuing himself.
Amidst the chaos of a raging inferno, commuters charred beyond recognition, and body parts strewn all over the highway, he saved himself by moving to the side of the road, where he was eventually carried and brought to a rural health center. Transferred to a hospital, he incurred an infected wound on his right leg due to debris from the explosion that had embedded onto his upper thigh. Had doctors not performed an above-the-right-knee amputation, he would have died from the infection.
Today, except for his crutches, Garillo can do just about anything. A maintenance man for vehicles in Saudi Arabia before the accident, he worked in a bakery post-surgery, and now earns a living as a mason, helping build swimming pools, homes, and buildings. He also runs a modest variety store and uses his hand to start and stop his motorcycle when he rides around his community in Bagong Kahayag, Lakewood, Zamboanga del Sur.
“It’s hard, but I had to accept it because the kids depend on me,” says Garillo a widower who helps raise the four children of his partner Adelyn Quirante.
Despite making do with one leg, Garillo welcomes the idea of getting an artificial limb. “I’ll be able to walk and work will be easier. I don’t have to depend on crutches.”
A prosthesis would help Arlyn Segarra as well. A longtime diabetic, she controlled her blood sugar with herbal supplements. This led to gangrene, or when blood flow to an area of the body is cut, causing tissue to turn greenish-black and die.
The homemaker only realized the gravity of her condition the day before her surgery in June 2023. “A woman with gangrene was lying on a bed next to mine. When the doctor arrived, he reprimanded her husband, ‘Your wife should have had the operation in March, but you didn’t bring her over.’”
The woman’s death the next day served as a wake-up call for Segarra. “I was scared but I toughened up. If I don’t get amputated, I’ll end up like her.”
While the procedure saved her life, it comes with its challenges. Segarra, who looks after her youngest of three children, a daughter with cerebral palsy, finds it difficult to carry her. “She’s too heavy, we’ll both fall.” Unable to do household chores, she passed the tasks on to her husband, a municipal officer. “I feel bad for him. He has to do everything for us,” she says, fighting back tears.
On May 16, Garillo and Segarra were two of the 97 recipients of prostheses from Tzu Chi Foundation’s Jaipur Foot Camp, held at the executive function hall of the capitol compound of Pagadian City, Zamboanga del Sur. The turnover of 44 above-the-knee limbs, 53-below-the-knee limbs, and two bilateral limbs was made possible with the support of the Provincial Government of Zamboanga del Sur, the House of Representatives, Persons with Disability Affairs Office, Zamboanga City Medical Center, and Zamboanga Athletes with Disability.
For over two decades, Tzu Chi has been providing indigent amputees with prosthetic limbs through its Tzu Chi Great Love Physical Rehabilitation and Jaipur Foot Prosthesis Manufacturing Center in Zamboanga. The Center makes use of the traditional Jaipur technology to fashion limbs out of rubber, plastic, and PVC pipe.
“This is one event with the largest number of recipients served,” said Tzu Chi volunteer Noel Navarro. “We feel honored, grateful, and very happy that each one of them can have a new life and new hope with their new limbs.”
“It’s very inspiring,” says Jay Ryan Santos, a physical therapist with the Tzu Chi Rehabilitation Center in Zamboanga City Medical Center. “Especially for us physical therapists, we’re witnessing amputees becoming abled again. We add years to their life. And even if we get nothing in return, it feels good to help.”
“Thank you for the prosthesis, Tzu Chi,” says Segarra. “And thank you, God, for sending Tzu Chi to us so we can receive our artificial limbs.”
“I’m very happy,” says Garillo with a big smile. “Thank you very much. I hope you can help more people like me.
To his fellow amputees, he says, “Don’t lose hope. Do what you can. I don’t think I’m any different from a person with two legs. I’m still strong, even with one leg.”
Rodello Garillo receives his prosthesis at Tzu Chi’s Jaipur Foot Camp on May 16 at the executive function hall of the capitol compound of Pagadian City, Zamboanga del Sur.
Rodello Garillo tries to walk using his prosthesis during the turnover of 97 artificial limbs at Tzu Chi’s Jaipur Foot Camp on May 16. The event was held at the executive function hall of the capitol compound of Pagadian City, Zamboanga del Sur.
Unfazed by the loss of his right leg after rescuing victims from a freak road accident in 2007, Rodello Garillo can do anything—including donate to help others like him through Tzu Chi’s coin bank.
Homemaker Arlyn Segarra proudly shows her prosthesis during Tzu Chi’s Jaipur Foot Camp on May 16 at the executive function hall of the capitol compound of Pagadian City, Zamboanga del Sur.
Arlyn Segarra samples her new prosthesis at Tzu Chi’s Jaipur Foot Camp. The artificial limb will hopefully make household chores and looking after her special needs daughter less challenging.
Before the turnover of prosthesis at Tzu Chi’s Jaipur Foot Camp on May 16, Arlyn Segarra joins volunteers and fellow beneficiaries in prayer.
Rodello Garillo lost most of his right leg while helping victims of a road accident in 2007. Debris from an explosion of a truck carrying liquid sodium dioxide was embedded on his upper thigh, resulting in a life-threatening infection. Without the amputation, he would have died.
Despite the loss of his right leg, Rodello Garillo keeps busy as a mason and owner of a modest variety store. “It’s hard, but I had to accept it because my kids depend on me,” Garillo told Tzu Chi volunteers during a home visit.
Despite the loss of his right leg, Rodello Garillo keeps busy as a mason and owner of a modest variety store. “It’s hard, but I had to accept it because my kids depend on me,” Garillo told Tzu Chi volunteers during a home visit.
Despite the loss of his right leg, Rodello Garillo keeps busy as a mason and owner of a modest variety store. “It’s hard, but I had to accept it because my kids depend on me,” Garillo told Tzu Chi volunteers during a home visit.
To get around his community in Bagong Kahayag, Lakewood, Zamboanga del Sur, Rodello Garillo uses his hand to start and stop his motorcycle.
A diabetic, Arlyn Segarra developed gangrene and was forced to have her lower right leg amputated to save her life in June 2023.
Amputated on the right leg below the knee, Arlyn Segarra finds it difficult to handle household chores and care for her youngest, a daughter with cerebral palsy.
Tzu Chi volunteers conduct a home visit with Arlyn Segarra (second from right, in crutches) before the Jaipur Foot Camp on May 16.
For over two decades, Tzu Chi has been providing indigent amputees with prosthetic limbs through its Tzu Chi Great Love Physical Rehabilitation and Jaipur Foot Prosthesis Manufacturing Center in Zamboanga. The Center makes use of the traditional Jaipur technology to fashion limbs out of rubber, plastic, and PVC pipe.