This
is a true story of a young woman who went through the most gruesome
fire. When you read her story, you’ll realize that your trials are
absolutely nothing compared to what this young girl went through.
It
was September 25, 2000. Maricel Apatan was an 11-year old girl in
Zamboanga. On that day, this little girl went with her uncle to draw
water.
Along
the way, four men met them. They were carrying long knives. They told
her uncle to face down on the ground, and they hacked him on the neck and
killed him.
Maricel
was in total shock, especially that the men were their neighbors. She
tried to escape, but the men ran after her.
She
cried, “Kuya, ‘wag po, ‘wag n’yo akong tagain! Maawa po kayo sa
akin!” (“Don’t kill me! Have mercy on me!”)
But
they weren’t listening. With a long knife, a man slashed her on the neck
too.
Maricel
fell to the ground and lost consciousness.
When
she woke up, she saw a lot of blood. She also saw the feet of the men
around her, but she pretended to be dead.
When
they walked away, Maricel ran back home. But along the way, she saw that
both her hands were falling off. Because the men hacked them too. She
cried but she kept running.
Sometimes,
she would faint and fall to the ground. But she’d regain consciousness and
run again.
When
she was near her home, Maricel called her mother.
Upon
seeing her daughter, her mother screamed in terror. She wrapped her bloodied
child in a blanket and carried her to the hospital.
Here
was the problem: From her house to the highway, it was a 12-kilometer
walk. It took them 4 hours just to reach the highway.
When
they arrived in the hospital, the doctors thought Maricel was going to
die. But for 5 hours, they operated on her. It took 25 stitches to
stitch together the long knife wound in her neck and back.
Maricel
barely survived. And she lost both of her hands.
Ironically,
the next day was Maricel’s birthday. She was 12 years old.
But
tragedy didn’t end there. When they went home, they saw their home was
gone. It was ransacked and burned down by the goons.
Being
very poor, Maricel’s family also didn’t have P50,000 for their hospital bills.
But
God sent many angels along the way to help them.
Archbishop
Antonio Ledesma, a distant relative, paid for
hospital bills and helped them bring the criminals to court. They were
sentenced to prison.
Today,
she’s staying with the nuns at Regina Rosarii with Sr. Eppie
Brasil, O.P.
But
this is the incredible miracle. Instead of staying down, Maricel kept
running.
Instead
of cursing God why she had no hands, she now uses her wrists in incredible ways
that will boggle your mind.
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