{"id":67294,"date":"2019-11-21T05:32:29","date_gmt":"2019-11-21T05:32:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drprem.com\/guide\/?p=67294"},"modified":"2020-10-07T10:37:53","modified_gmt":"2020-10-07T10:37:53","slug":"maricel-s-apatan-she-lost-her-hands-but-not-her-will","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drprem.com\/guide\/maricel-s-apatan-she-lost-her-hands-but-not-her-will\/","title":{"rendered":"Maricel S. Apatan: She lost her hands but not her will"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"38520354a5201685ddf480eec688e1a7\" data-index=\"1\" style=\"float: none; margin:10px 0 10px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block; text-align:center;\"\r\n     data-ad-layout=\"in-article\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-9477973674766713\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"8885944693\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>Endurance is not just the ability to bear a hard thing, but to turn it into glory.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>-William Barclay<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>[William Barclay was a Scottish author, radio and television presenter, Church of Scotland, minister and Professor of Divinity and Biblical Criticism at the University of Glasgow.]<\/strong><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Endurance is a strong word. It not only defines survival through hard-ships but it shows the depth of power of the one who survived through it. William Barclay says that turning the hardship into glory is true endurance.<\/p>\n<p>In any critical situation, the pressure can be external, internal or both. When the pressure is internal, it can be various emotions troubling you or maybe some kind of worry or fear that takes over.<\/p>\n<p>External pressure is when you have to deal with physical difficulties and your stamina to surmount that, starts falling apart.<\/p>\n<p>It is very natural for human beings to react in a negative manner in any adverse situation, it will be odd not to feel the pain; but the important aspect is not giving up in such a circumstance. The one who is able to cope up with both the internal as well as external pressure is a real survivor; he\u2019s the one who actually endures.<\/p>\n<h2>The brave example of Maricel S. Apatan<\/h2>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-67305\" src=\"https:\/\/drprem.com\/guide\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2019\/11\/Maricel-S.-Apatan-1.jpg\" alt=\"Maricel S. Apatan\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https:\/\/drprem.com\/guide\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2019\/11\/Maricel-S.-Apatan-1.jpg 426w, https:\/\/drprem.com\/guide\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2019\/11\/Maricel-S.-Apatan-1-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/drprem.com\/guide\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2019\/11\/Maricel-S.-Apatan-1-300x300.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Image Source : scontent.fslv1-2.fna.fbcdn.net\/<\/p>\n<p>27 year old, <em><strong>Maricel S. Apatan<\/strong><\/em> is a living example of such endurance.\u00a0 This pastry chef at Edsa Shangri-La Manila, is seen delicately segmenting fruits like strawberries and grapes, piping on cream fillings and very gracefully finishing up her beautiful cakes but with her wrists. Yes, with her wrists because she does not have hands. Having no hands did not stop her from holding a substantial position in a 5 star hotel.<\/p>\n<p>On 25<sup>th<\/sup> of September, 2000, Maricel had gone with her uncle to pull water. She was 11 years old back then.\u00a0 On their way back, they were attacked by four men with sharp knives. To her astonishment, it was her neighbors who attacked them. They made her uncle face down towards the ground.<\/p>\n<p>Maricel was terrified and started pleading them saying <em>\u201c<\/em><em>Kuya, \u2018wag\u00a0po, \u2018wag n\u2019yo akong\u00a0tagain!\u00a0Maawa\u00a0po\u00a0kayo\u00a0saakin!\u201d\u00a0<\/em>(\u201cDon\u2019t kill me! Have mercy on me!) The men cruelly ignored her cry and stabbed the sharp knife on her neck.<\/p>\n<p>Maricel fell unconscious. Just as she was regaining her consciousness, she could still see the feet of those men; she pretended to be dead so that they would just leave her and go. When they went away, Maricel quickly started running towards her house. As she ran, she realized that the men had slashed off her hands too. A trail of tears rolled down her eyes as she was running but she did not stop.<\/p>\n<p><em>The misery was internal as well as external. She was shocked to find her neighbors attacking her and she was slashed on her neck and her hands were chopped off.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>On her way back Maricel lost consciousness, fell down, became conscious and ran again; this happened several times before she could finally reach home. As she was about to reach, her mother panicked as she saw her daughter covered in blood and immediately got a blanket, covered her and lifted her to take her to the hospital immediately.<\/p>\n<p>The distance between her house and the hospital was 12 kilometers which took them 4 hours to reach. When the doctors saw Maricel\u2019s condition, they thought she will not survive but they proceeded with a 5 hour long operation which stabilized Marciel\u2019s condition. The cut on her neck extended to her back which required 25 stitches. She no longer had hands.<\/p>\n<p><em>This brutal situation can make a person give up on life. In Maricel\u2019s case, their hardships did not end here.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>They could not pay their hospital bill of P50, 000 because they were poor. In addition to that, when they reached home, they found out that their house was burned down by some attackers.<\/p><div class=\"38520354a5201685ddf480eec688e1a7\" data-index=\"2\" style=\"float: none; margin:10px 0 10px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block; text-align:center;\"\r\n     data-ad-layout=\"in-article\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-9477973674766713\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"8885944693\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-67303\" src=\"https:\/\/drprem.com\/guide\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2019\/11\/convicts-were-sentenced-to-prison.jpg\" alt=\"convicts were sentenced to prison\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https:\/\/drprem.com\/guide\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2019\/11\/convicts-were-sentenced-to-prison.jpg 800w, https:\/\/drprem.com\/guide\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2019\/11\/convicts-were-sentenced-to-prison-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/drprem.com\/guide\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2019\/11\/convicts-were-sentenced-to-prison-768x513.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>A kind distant relative, Archbishop AntonioLedesma came to their rescue. He not only paid for their hospital bills but also helped to drag the convicts to the court; the convicts were sentenced to prison.<\/p>\n<p>Maricel still had to fight another battle, she had no hands. <em>\u201cI was totally dependent on my mother,\u201d she <\/em>said as she recalled her struggling days. When she resumed her school, her classmates would tease her to tears. This went on for 4 years till Archbishop AntonioLedesma again lend his hand by arranging for Maricel\u2019s stay at <em>The House with no steps, <\/em>Australia\u2019s leading disability service providers. She eventually came in terms with her disability, learned to do the chores with it. She even learnt to write.<\/p>\n<p><em>Even though at a point Maricel had almost given up, she did not lose hope. She survived the tough times because she had faith that things will become better. With the support of her parents and the kind distant relative, she saw a ray of hope and starter walking towards it.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>In 2008, she graduated from Lourdes College in Hotel and Restaurant Management. \u201c<em>I have reallyenjoyed cooking since I was seven years old,\u201d<\/em> said Maricel who performed really well despite being the only disabled student in the course. She did not shy away because of her disability; instead she took part in competitions like cake decorating.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-67301\" src=\"https:\/\/drprem.com\/guide\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2019\/11\/Maricel-Apatan.jpg\" alt=\"Maricel-Apatan\" width=\"800\" height=\"1195\" srcset=\"https:\/\/drprem.com\/guide\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2019\/11\/Maricel-Apatan.jpg 800w, https:\/\/drprem.com\/guide\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2019\/11\/Maricel-Apatan-201x300.jpg 201w, https:\/\/drprem.com\/guide\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2019\/11\/Maricel-Apatan-768x1147.jpg 768w, https:\/\/drprem.com\/guide\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2019\/11\/Maricel-Apatan-686x1024.jpg 686w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Image Source : irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com\/<\/p>\n<p>This young woman has even won a gold medal for Arts and crafts.<\/p>\n<p>She had made a career choice of becoming a chef, keeping in mind her keen liking for cooking. She completed her education of culinary arts\/baking and pastry from 2010 -2012, at the Global Culinary and Hospitality Academy.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s very common for disabled people to gain attention in different ways, even Maricel did but she did not shy away from it. She wanted people with disabilities to believe that it is possible to live a normal life for them as well.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cTrusting in God, I became more determined to strive to have a normal life. I believed I had an important mission in life because I survived the attack,\u201d<\/em> one of her missions being, inspiring others, which she definitely could. Ronelyn Calumpiano, a 21 year old boy who had Cerebral palsy watched on TV once and saw the amount of confidence she had in her. This made him take admission in the House with no steps with a career plan IT already in mind.<\/p>\n<p>She got hired by Edsa Shangri-La Hotel when they saw her on TV, for their hotel\u2019s Care For People project.<\/p>\n<p>Maricel\u2019s parents are now taking care of the family farm in Mindanao and her three siblings live in Manila; Maricel pays the rent for their apartment.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-67298\" src=\"https:\/\/drprem.com\/guide\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2019\/11\/Maricel-S.-Apatan.jpg\" alt=\"Maricel S. Apatan\" width=\"800\" height=\"418\" srcset=\"https:\/\/drprem.com\/guide\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2019\/11\/Maricel-S.-Apatan.jpg 800w, https:\/\/drprem.com\/guide\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2019\/11\/Maricel-S.-Apatan-300x157.jpg 300w, https:\/\/drprem.com\/guide\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2019\/11\/Maricel-S.-Apatan-768x401.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Image Source : mb.dkn.tv<\/p>\n<p>Maricel tightly holds the knife between her waist and her wrist to cut vegetables. One of her fellow chefs, Aljamil Borja said <em>\u201cShe asks for assistance only if she needs to move a hot kettle or large saucepan from the stove, or open slippery bottle caps.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s extremely inspiring to know Maricel\u2019s story. Hands being a very important part in every small thing we do, it is evidently difficult to survive without them. But instead of blaming God for taking away her hands, Marciel chose to learn various ways to work brilliantly even while not having them and also fought the internal struggle very persistently. She is a perfect example of faith and endurance.<\/p>\n<div class=\"38520354a5201685ddf480eec688e1a7\" data-index=\"3\" style=\"float: none; margin:10px 0 10px 0; text-align:center;\">\n          <p><a id=\"link-15\" href=\"\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\r\n            <img decoding=\"async\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;\" id=\"img-15\" src=\"\"><\/a><\/p>\r\n            <script>\r\n            var xmlhttp = new XMLHttpRequest();\r\n            xmlhttp.onreadystatechange = function() {\r\n              if (this.readyState == 4 && this.status == 200) {\r\n                var myObj = JSON.parse(this.responseText);\r\n                document.getElementById(\"link-\"+myObj.id).setAttribute('href',myObj.url);\r\n                document.getElementById(\"img-\"+myObj.id).setAttribute('src','https:\/\/fetch.drprem.com\/\/uploads\/'+myObj.image);\r\n              }\r\n            };\r\n            xmlhttp.open(\"GET\", \"https:\/\/fetch.drprem.com\/\/api\/Ads\/15\", true);\r\n            xmlhttp.send();\r\n            <\/script>\r\n        \r\n        <style>\r\n        *{box-sizing:border-box}.top-container{display: grid;grid-template-columns: auto auto auto;}.column{float:left;width:100%;padding: 0 7.5px 15px 7.5px;}.row{margin:0 -5px}.row:after{content:\"\";display:table;clear:both}@media screen and (max-width: 600px){.top-container{display: block;grid-template-columns: unset;}.column{width:100%;display:block;margin-bottom:20px}}.card{text-align:center;}.card_image img{width:100%}.card_body{padding:15px}.card_title{font-size: 14px;line-height: 19px;text-decoration: none;text-align:left;color: #333;}.card-heading{text-align: left;margin-bottom: 25px !important;}\r\n        <\/style>\r\n        <div class=\"row todays-top\">\r\n            <h3 class=\"card-heading\"> Recent Articles: <\/h3><div class=\"top-container\" id=\"todays-top\">\r\n        <\/div>\r\n        <\/div>\r\n        <script>\r\n            var xmlhttp = new XMLHttpRequest();\r\n            xmlhttp.onreadystatechange = function() {\r\n            if (this.readyState == 4 && this.status == 200) {\r\n            var myObj = JSON.parse(this.responseText); 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height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Endurance is not just the ability to bear a hard thing, but to turn it into glory. -William Barclay [William Barclay was a Scottish author, radio and television presenter, Church of Scotland, minister and Professor of Divinity and Biblical Criticism [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":67298,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4698],"tags":[4064,4057,4061,4059,4051,4060,799,4058,4053,4052,4063,4054,4062,4065,4056,4055,1955,2274],"class_list":["post-67294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-homepage","tag-astonishment","tag-brutal-situation","tag-cope-up","tag-disabled-people","tag-endurance","tag-faith","tag-featured","tag-hardships","tag-lost-her-hands","tag-maricel-s-apatan","tag-misery","tag-not-her-will","tag-real-survivor","tag-struggling-days","tag-substantial-position","tag-survival","tag-top","tag-wrists"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drprem.com\/guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drprem.com\/guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drprem.com\/guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drprem.com\/guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drprem.com\/guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67294"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/drprem.com\/guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67294\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drprem.com\/guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67298"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drprem.com\/guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drprem.com\/guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drprem.com\/guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}