Just last week, my former student tagged me on an FB post regarding a climb to Mt. Malindang. It was quiet inviting ‘coz I’ve never been climbing mountains aside from Mt. Agad2x in Iligan City when I was still in my teens. But as I read the very lengthy caption of the itinerary, I already got exhausted. I’m not that too outdoorsy type who does extreme physical activities. The only thing that fits me is do yoga in a comfortable place. Anyway, apart from the itinerary, the reason for the climb was also stated. It was actually for a good cause, a climb to save a baby’s life. There are a lot of posts like this circulating on social media already that you cannot tell whether it’s fake or real. But as a sucker for babies, I cared to share the post on my wall without even verifying the authenticity of the post. Oh, I am such a soul-caring individual! Hehe….
Yesterday, my sister Ep2x asked me to accompany her to her former classmate’s house in the coastal area of Brgy. Annex. When I asked her what we’re going to do there, she said that she’s going to visit her classmate’s baby who has an illness. She further mentioned about a liver transplant and the fund-raising climb to Mt. Malindang so I remembered the post I shared. So the post is indeed real. It’s not fake. Gladly I’ve shared it! And when I saw the baby last night, my heart ached.
Sebastien Ryley Pasco was born on October 13, 2017, a day after my birthday. He is 11 months old and he has biliary atresia.
Biliary atresia is a rare disease of the liver and bile ducts that occurs in infants. Symptoms of the disease appear or develop about two to eight weeks after birth. Cells within the liver produce liquid called bile. Bile helps to digest fat. It also carries waste products from the liver to the intestines for excretion. This network of channels and ducts is called the biliary system. When the biliary system is working the way it should, it lets the bile drain from the liver into the intestines. When a baby has biliary atresia, bile flow from the liver to the gallbladder is blocked. This causes the bile to be trapped inside the liver, quickly causing damage and scarring of the liver cells (cirrhosis), and eventually liver failure.
Source: Cincinnati Children’s website. Retrieved from https://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/health/b/biliary on September 25, 2018.
With that, baby Seb needs a liver transplant ASAP! Upon talking with his mom, they need a total of 3 million pesos to carry out the procedure in India ‘coz it is where success rates are high. Baby Seb’s parents had approached foundations and they still had to raise a million pesos because not all expenses can be shouldered by the foundations. At the moment, they are not yet halfway for 1M so they also started doing fund-raising projects. This weekend is actually the second climb for Saving Little Seb. The registration is only P500/pax and you’ll get to have a certificate for the Basic Mountaineering Course. That’s already so worth your bucks not mentioning the help you can give.
Take a look at Baby Seb’s angelic smile 🙂
But if you are not the outdoorsy type like me, we can also do our part by simply sharing the word to our friends. With just a few clicks and taps in our mobile phone and laptop, we can greatly extend our helping hands. Additionally, there’s also a raffle draw as part of the fund-raising for only P100/ticket. Or better yet, let’s just drop in our monetary help by clicking Saving Little SEB’s official FB page here. You may also directly contact his mom, Mimi Pasco in these numbers:
- Smart – 09087075907
- Globe – 09655140353
Thank you in advance for your help, dear readers! 🙂 Do like and share this post to help spread the word!