Author Topic: Pinay with progeria marks another year, defies limits  (Read 887 times)

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Pinay with progeria marks another year, defies limits
« on: May 30, 2014, 10:42:24 AM »
By Regine Chin-Gochuico, VERA Files



Rochelle Pondare


PLARIDEL, Bulacan—She watches primetime soaps and gushes over pop artists. Her voice rises a pitch higher when she talks about her crushes and handsome men. She has fallen in love and has had her heart broken.

Sounds like a typical teenager. Except she’s not.

Anna Rochelle Orellianes Pondare, who turns 17 this Friday (May 30), in fact, has the look of a 60-year-old woman and the size of a 5-year-old girl. Her skin is wrinkled from face to feet. The muscles on her arms and thighs have shrunk. She has lost all her hair and can never grow it back.

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hubag bohol

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Re: Pinay with progeria marks another year, defies limits
« Reply #1 on: May 30, 2014, 10:43:20 AM »
Pondare has progeria, a rare genetic disorder that causes premature aging. She is one of the handful of known cases of progeria in the Philippines.

Those born with progeria,or Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome, typically live up to their mid-teens to early twenties. According to the U.S.-based Progeria Research Foundation, only 80 cases of progeria are well-documented in the world.

Pondare’s mother, a garments vendor, noticed the changes in her eldest child when she was 5 and tried her best to help her deal with the condition.

But not her father, who Pondare said was jobless, often had a drink too many, and spent practically every single day beating his children and his wife.

“Palagi po niya akong binubugbog nung malaman niya na may sakit ako, saka sinasabi niya na malas ako sa pamilya (My father always beats me when he knew that I was sick with progeria and even told my family that I was a misfortune to them),”she said.

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hubag bohol

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Re: Pinay with progeria marks another year, defies limits
« Reply #2 on: May 30, 2014, 10:44:06 AM »
Fed up with her husband, Pondare’s mother moved out of the house when Pondare was 8, taking all her children with her except for a son. Pondare would see her father and brother again six years later, when she turned 14 and felt her life might soon come to an end.

Pondare went to Tahanang Walang Hagdanan in Cainta, Rizal, a nonprofit training center for people with disabilities, for her early education. But she would return to this town years later to finish her primary studies at Kabilang Bacood Elementary School, a few blocks away from her first home near the public market.

She then enrolled at the Jaime J. Vistan High School, which was closer to her second residence in Plaridel, but got to finish only first year. Her mother was not making enough to cover the family expenses.

Except for one incident when she was bullied by a classmate— “Mukha daw po akong tiyanak (I look like a demon child for him),” she said—the lone year in high school was a happy one for Pondare who had the support of the school principal and her classmates.

Like her mother, Pondare became a vendor, peddling clothes, crafts, and fruits on the streets and markets here. Her suki or regular customers include a foreigner who would buy mangoes from her and always let her keep the change, and even help out when her family’s finances were low.

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Re: Pinay with progeria marks another year, defies limits
« Reply #3 on: May 30, 2014, 10:45:11 AM »
There are other kind souls. Pondare’s condition has reached the attention of Project Michaelangelo, spearheaded by Jojo Sayson, a NASA research scientist and physical therapist. The foundation covers Pondare’s medical examinations, treatments and other health needs.

While her earnings as vendor have helped send her siblings to school, Pondare, who loves cooking, dreams of opening her own canteen someday.

“Gusto ko pong magkaroon ng sarili kong business para po makatulong sa pamilya ko at matulungan ko ang aking nanay na maiahaon ang buhay namin sa kahirapan (I want to have my own business so I would be able to help my family and my mother uplift our family from poverty),” she said.

Although she is making it to her 17th birthday, Pondare knows only too well of her mortality. The death of her friend Maureen, who also had progeria, at age 15 is a constant reminder. But she has decided to make the most out of life.

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Re: Pinay with progeria marks another year, defies limits
« Reply #4 on: May 30, 2014, 10:45:40 AM »
“Una po takot na takot akong mamatay. Pero ngayon ineenjoy ko na lang ang bawat oras ng aking buhay (At first I was afraid of drying. Now I’m just enjoying every moment of my life),” Pondare said. “Yung mga problema ko, dinadaan ko lang sa tawa, kinakausap ko yung mga kapatid ko, o minsan kinakanta ko na lang (I try to forget my problems by laughing them off, talking with my siblings, or singing).”

Her favorite song is Sarah Geronimo’s “To Love You More.” Her ultimate crush is Alden Richards, who plays Marian Rivera’s love interest in the primetime soap Carmela. She looks back with no regrets to a short-lived affair with a man whose family had opposed their relationship. And she’s still looking for her ideal man.

“Gusto ko po ng lalaking magmamahal sa akin nang habambuhay at yung tatanggapin ako ng kung sino ako (I want a man who would love me forever and who will accept me for who I am),” Pondare said.

As she turns 17, Pondare has this piece of advice for those having hard time coping with adversity in life: “Never lose hope. Always pray and live your life to the fullest. Just enjoy each day knowing that you are given another day to be with your loved ones and be a blessing to other people.”

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Re: Pinay with progeria marks another year, defies limits
« Reply #5 on: May 30, 2014, 09:13:10 PM »
Republic Act 8485 (Animal Welfare Act of 1998, Philippines), as amended and strengthened by House  Bill 6893 of 2013--- violation means a maximum of P250,000 fine with a corresponding three-year jail term and a minimum of P30,000 fine and six months imprisonment

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