Filipino nurse in Ireland hailed as hero after helping stabbing victim --- By DAVE LLAVANES JR and HANNAH DAYGO

A Filipino is now being hailed as a hero in Dublin, Ireland, after assisting a young female student who was among the four victims of an attack by an Algerian suspect in Parnell Square last month. The incident, which took place on November 23, is still vivid in the mind of Filipino nurse Leo Ralph Villamayor — especially since it happened while he was on his way to his graduation. "I thought it was just a rumble, like people fighting on the street," said Villamayor, offering a firsthand account of the incident. When a young girl collapsed in front of him, Villamayor said this prompted him to immediately provide basic life support, introducing himself as a nurse first to erase doubts on his skills. "My first response was to try to help, but they ignored me and pushed me away until I decided to shout, 'I'm a nurse.' They then gave way so I could assess the child," he said. It was not easy, Villamayor said, as at that time the place had already erupted into chaos. "I could not assess the child's pulse properly as there was too much noise and too many people; chaos everywhere," he said. Then the child moved and "I got a feedback from her," he added. It was at this moment that paramedics arrived and initiated the use of a defibrillator on the victim. "I was about to cry but I had to compose myself," Villamayor recounted. According to Villamayor, he only did what was necessary to help the victim. The Embassy of Ireland in the Philippines is set to recognize Villamayor's actions in the stabbing attack. The Overseas Welfare Workers Administration (OWWA) has already contacted him and is planning to welcome him upon his arrival in the Philippines. Villamayor is scheduled to return to the Philippines this week to visit his family, with whom he has not spent Christmas for eight years. Villamayor, who declined an offer of financial reward for his deed, said he is planning to go to the United States to work as a nurse. "To be honest, I didn't feel right accepting gratitude from anyone because I was there by luck, and I'm sure anyone would do that (help) as well," he said. —KBK, GMA Integrated News

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

POPCOM, gagamit ng ‘digital platforms’ para pagtibayin ang mga ugnayang pampamilya

Mas pinalalawig ng Komisyon sa Populasyon at Pagpapaunlad (POPCOM) ang adhikain nitong pagpapalaganap at pagpapabuti ng pakikipag-ugnayan ng mga nakakatandang Pilipino sa kanilang mga anak na nagdadalaga at nagbibinata. Nitong Setyembre 21, ang POPCOM ay nagsagawa ng isang “parent-teen talk webinar” gamit ang Zoom, kung saan ang isang “interactive program” ang nagbigay ng naaayon na kaalaman at kasanayan sa mga magulang, habang tumulong ito sa mga anak na teenager na maabot ang kanilang buong potensyal. Hinikayat din nito ang mga nanay at tatay na sumali sa malayang usapan, lalo na sa mga usapin ukol sa sex at sekswalidad, na nakikitang makakatulong upang bumaba ang mga bilang ng mga pagbubuntis sa hanay ng mga kabataan. Maaaring mapanood ang webinar sa https://youtu.be/lZ9jrJCjYas. Ayon kay Ikalawang Kalihim (Undersecretary) Juan Antonio A. Perez III, MD, MPH, “ang webinar ay naging isang tagapag-simula at ‘padaluyan’ ng pag-uu
Read more

UP Diliman Professors Share Scientists’ Procurement Struggles at Senate Hearing

By Harvey Sapigao Senate hearing of the revised procurement law (Photo credit: Senate of the Philippines) College of Science (CS) Dean Giovanni Tapang held up a little white device as he finished his presentation. “This is a ₱150,000 component,” he described. “Isa lang gumagawa nito sa buong mundo, pero ang hirap pilitin sila na magregister sa PhilGEPS,” he continued, referring to the requirement that foreign companies must first register to the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) before they can sell products to local scientists. Marine Science Institute (MSI) Deputy Director Dr. Irene Rodriguez explained that the small device is a resin that filters metals in water. “May budget tayo,” she said, “pero ang problema ko ay ‘yung resin na ito.” This and other bottlenecks brought about by the procurement law, or the Government Procurement Reform Act (RA 9184), slow down research and development in the country. UPD leaders were invited to the Senate he
Read more

Gaza war rages into fourth month as Blinken tours Middle East Adel Zaanoun with Ilan Ben Zion in Jerusalem, --- Agence France-Presse

The Israel-Hamas war raging in Gaza entered its fourth month on Sunday as the army again pounded the besieged Palestinian territory and US top diplomat Antony Blinken was back in the region seeking to avoid a wider escalation. Israeli airstrikes overnight and early Sunday killed at least 64 people in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory, said its health ministry. It said two journalists were killed when their car was struck. The ministry, medics, and witnesses identified them as Mustafa Thuria, a video stringer for Agence France-Presse, and Hamza Wael Dahdouh, the son of Al Jazeera's bureau chief in Gaza who earlier lost his wife and two other children in an Israeli strike. Israeli bombardment also claimed other civilian lives in the southern city of Khan Yunis and in the Rafah area near the Egyptian border, where many of the territory's displaced people have sought refuge, AFP correspondents reported. Relatives were mourning the dead at Khan Yunis' European Hospital, am
Read more