LEONOR'S STORY |
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Leonor was referred to Triple B Care for help by our office assistant who saw a post on Facebook about her plight. Leonor is 40 years old and has severe contractures from burns that were not treated well when she was 15 years old.
She and her father were making a bamboo torch to light their way. Gasoline was used, rather than kerosene, on the rag that was stuffed inside the bamboo. Basically, it exploded over Leonor and burnt her very badly. Because they are farmers (peasants), they didn't go to a hospital since they had no money to be treated, so she stayed at home for 4 days. She became unconscious, so her father finally took her to hospital, which was 8 hours round trip.
The doctors pronounced her dead because she was too smelly to be alive (the smell is from the burns). She was taken home and placed in a home-made coffin with instructions from the doctors to bury her that day. Since she was so smelly and injured, she couldn't be embalmed the traditional way.
The family took her to a little church, and the priest began his prayers. She lay in an open coffin with a glass panel at the head end, and as the priest threw holy water onto her body, Leonor miraculously woke up! They rushed her back to the hospital, and the priest helped by paying all the expenses.
She was in the hospital for nine months. Her treatment, however, was shocking. It is standard treatment for the Philippines and oh so lacking. Her contractures had started by week 4 and nothing was done to prevent them or heal her skin. Only a thin layer of dry gauze was placed on the skin then every 3rd day they debrided (scraped) the wounds without placing a cover on them. Hence her development of shocking contractures.
The fact that she has survived this ordeal is truly a miracle. Leonor tells us that when she was “dead” for a day, she went to hell and was told, “No, you are not meant to be here. Go up there.” So she walked and walked till she found heaven’s gates. There she saw 2 men, barely dressed. One asked her why she was there. The other said, “You are not needed here. Go back to earth.” So she began to walk and then felt water splash on her face and woke up. She shouted, “Why am I in a coffin?” The priest was so shocked that he funded her 9-month hospital bill. The rest is history…
We are looking forward to helping Leonor on her journey to reconstructive surgery and healing once Covid-19 has dissipated.
She and her father were making a bamboo torch to light their way. Gasoline was used, rather than kerosene, on the rag that was stuffed inside the bamboo. Basically, it exploded over Leonor and burnt her very badly. Because they are farmers (peasants), they didn't go to a hospital since they had no money to be treated, so she stayed at home for 4 days. She became unconscious, so her father finally took her to hospital, which was 8 hours round trip.
The doctors pronounced her dead because she was too smelly to be alive (the smell is from the burns). She was taken home and placed in a home-made coffin with instructions from the doctors to bury her that day. Since she was so smelly and injured, she couldn't be embalmed the traditional way.
The family took her to a little church, and the priest began his prayers. She lay in an open coffin with a glass panel at the head end, and as the priest threw holy water onto her body, Leonor miraculously woke up! They rushed her back to the hospital, and the priest helped by paying all the expenses.
She was in the hospital for nine months. Her treatment, however, was shocking. It is standard treatment for the Philippines and oh so lacking. Her contractures had started by week 4 and nothing was done to prevent them or heal her skin. Only a thin layer of dry gauze was placed on the skin then every 3rd day they debrided (scraped) the wounds without placing a cover on them. Hence her development of shocking contractures.
The fact that she has survived this ordeal is truly a miracle. Leonor tells us that when she was “dead” for a day, she went to hell and was told, “No, you are not meant to be here. Go up there.” So she walked and walked till she found heaven’s gates. There she saw 2 men, barely dressed. One asked her why she was there. The other said, “You are not needed here. Go back to earth.” So she began to walk and then felt water splash on her face and woke up. She shouted, “Why am I in a coffin?” The priest was so shocked that he funded her 9-month hospital bill. The rest is history…
We are looking forward to helping Leonor on her journey to reconstructive surgery and healing once Covid-19 has dissipated.