19 July 2006
By Ephraim Aguilar, PDI
Southern Luzon Bureau
LEGAZPI CITY—IT’S BEEN A month since a 10-year-old boy from this city miraculously came back to life, 10 hours after he was allegedly pronounced dead of a brain tumor in a hospital in Manila.
On June 21, the parents of Dante Cardel Jr. or “Jun” as he was called by his family, was brought to the Philippine General Hospital. The Child Sponsorship for Community Development Inc. paid for the trip and the treatment.
“At 10 a.m. that day, the doctors at PGH said my son had a slim chance of survival. That afternoon, he was already dependent on the machines attached to his body. At 4 p.m., he was pronounced dead,” Cardel, Jun’s father, told the Inquirer.
However, Dr. Michael Tee, assistant to the director for public affairs of the PGH, said the hospital did not pronounce the boy dead.
“We did not issue any certification that the child died. We recommended that [he] be subjected to an operation to decompress his tumor but the parents refused. What we did was let the parents sign an agreement that the hospital would not be accountable for anything that might happen to the child. We respected their decision,” Tee said.
Dr. Vicente Tanchuling, Jun’s doctor here, said Jun had been diagnosed with serious cerebellar tumor and typhoid fever.
A brain tumor is the abnormal growth of tissue within the skull that occurs most commonly in children.
“The doctors said my son’s tumor had burst in his skull. At that point, my wife and I accepted that he would be gone soon. When he was proclaimed dead, some of our relatives left [for Legazpi] to prepare the house for his wake,” Cardel said.
That same night, Cardel and his wife transported Jun back to Legazpi City in a van. They took turns holding his lifeless body in their arms.
After 10 hours, Cardel felt his son’s chest grow warm. They had reached Naga City, some two hours from their destination.
“His chest was warm, but the rest of his body was still cold. He was not breathing.” Cardel said.
When the family reached their house at Barangay Puro, the father lay his erstwhile dead son on the sofa. Suddenly, the boy moved.
“My son embraced me. In a weak voice, he called me ‘Papa.’ We were all surprised. We and his grandparents started crying. Although it was early morning, our neighbors came to the house,” Cardel said.
Jun was also very thirsty and very hungry.
Cardel said his son told him that “people in heaven do not go hungry” and that he woke up “because Jesus told him to.”
After almost a month, the Cardel family has not asked for a medical explanation of what happened.
Cardel, a poor fisherman, said he hoped his son would recover from his illness, even without treatment or medication.
“I can see that my son is better now. He can walk—although not that straight. He can move his body. He can play with other children,” he said.
Jun, who has difficulty hearing and speaking, said he wanted to become an engineer someday.
“My son was very smart in school. He was very good in Math; he loved to solve numerical problems. We’re just praying he would be completely healed from his sickness,” Cardel said.
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