MANILA – A 27-year-old woman who hails from Polomolok, South Cotabato, has been hailed as a hero after she rushed to help an MRT passenger whose arm was severed in a freak accident on Tuesday at the Ayala Station in Makati City.

Charlie Jandic, a post-graduate intern at the Chinese General Hospital, lingered at the Ayala Station after getting off the train as it was her first time there and she wanted to familiarize herself with her surroundings.

While she was heading to the stairs that would take her to the exit, she noticed Angeline Fernando, 24, veering the other way. Jandic figured the former was just going to approach a guard to ask something, and went her way.

A few moments later, Jandic heard a loud thud, “Parang may nabundol (As though there was a collision),” and people shouting.

“Akala ko po kasi honestly, wala na (Honestly, I thought she was gone),” she told InterAksyon in a phone interview on Wednesday. “Kasi with that strong an impact, akala ko, wala na. Pero may ano din na tulungan daw (Because with that strong of an impact, I thought she was gone. But there were also people calling for help).”

So she descended the stairs and returned to the platform.

“Nung nakita ko siya, andun siya sa mga bato, ‘yung sa space between ng railing tsaka kung naka-park ‘yung MRT (When I saw her, she was by the stony part, in the space between the railing and where the MRT would have parked),” Jandic said.

Someone instructed the guards to help Fernando to the platform, and they did, laying her on the platform floor. Jandic sprang to action, and others pitched in.

“Naghanap po ako ng pwedeng maging tourniquet para hindi po magtuluy-tuloy ‘yung bleeding niya kasi ‘yun po ‘yung risk dun sa kondisyon niya kahapon. May nag-abot po ng cardigan and then may isang pulis, nag-abot din po ng belt (I looked for something that could be used as a tourniquet so that the bleeding would stop, because that was the risk given her condition yesterday. Someone handed me a cardigan, and there was a police officer who gave me a belt),” she recalled.

She then asked for a stretcher, and instructed the onlookers to get the severed arm.

“Tapos sabi ng isang guard parang, hindi raw po munang kunin kasi po ano, ido-document pa raw nila. Kasi parang, incident report (And one guard said something like, they shouldn’t get the arm just yet because they still need to document it. In like, an incident report),” Jandic said.

“Pero pinakuha ko naman (But I still asked them to get it),” she added.

All the while, she was talking to Fernando, giving the patient instructions, and assessing the extent of the external injuries.

“Medyo nag-freak out siya nang konti kasi wala na ‘yung kamay niya. Tapos sabi ko, dinivert ko muna, sabi ko, mamaya na ‘yan, mamaya na muna natin isipin ‘yan, ang importante buhay ka, ganun (She freaked out a bit becasue her arm was gone. So I told her, I diverted her attention, and said to her, that can wait ’til later, let’s think about that later. What’s important is that you’re alive, something like that),” Jandic said.

“Tapos kinakausap ko siya the whole time kasi hindi ko kasi alam ‘yung extent if tumama ba ‘yung ulo niya. So there’s that risk na if antukin siya, matulog siya, mahirapan na na gisingin siya (And I was talking to her the whole time because I didn’t know the extent of it, whether her head hit anything. So there’s a risk that if she gets sleepy, she falls asleep and it’ll be hard to wake her up),” she added. Doctors routinely instruct people attending to head trauma patients to make sure they don’t fall asleep, as they could go into coma.

After the stretcher arrived, Fernando was brought to the station’s clinic. By then, an ambulance and a medic had already been called for.

Jandic coordinated with the medic and gave some instructions while the ambulance was on its way. The medic asked her to join them on the way to the nearest hospital, Makati Medical Center, since she was the first to respond to and manage Fernando.

At the hospital, she endorsed the patient to the emergency room nurse and doctor, and talked to Fernando’s family. The police also talked to Jandic for a report.

By Wednesday morning, Fernando’s arm was successfully reattached to her body in a six-hour operation by Makati Medical surgeons, according to Department of Transportation Undersecretary for Rails Cesar Chavez.

Asked what she thought of being branded as a hero, Jandic replied, “Honestly po nawiwirduhan ako (Honestly, I find it weird).”

“‘Yung ginawa ko is what I think was right. Ginawa ko lang naman ‘yung tama (I did what I think was right. I just did what was right). The way I see it, if it was anyone with a medical background yesterday, I think they would have done the same thing. It just so happened na ako ‘yung andun (I was where),” she added.

“‘Yun ‘yung dapat gawin eh, sa situation na ganun. Ang weird lang talaga. Hindi naman siya ‘yung kailangan talaga ng recognition (That was the right thing to do in the situation. It’s just weird. That act doesn’t really need recognition).”

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