SAN LEONARDO, Nueva Ecija – A 14-year-old girl from a poor family here succumbed to “old age illness” here over the weekend.
Rowena Longalong, a widow, said she took a hard time accepting the fate of her only daughter, Angeline, whose body was laid to rest in a public cemetery here Tuesday.
Angeline, her second child, died of Progeria Syndrome.
Death records showed Angeline died of cardiopulmonary arrest probably caused by Progeria, about two weeks after she was rushed to a local hospital on May 21.
Longalong said Progeria symptoms manifested to her child as soon as she reached the age of two. “Parang normal naman siya nung ipinanganak,” Longalong said.
But the family later noticed that she could not even stand by herself and speak clearly.
“Naiintindihan naman niya sinasabi ko dahil pag tinawag mo pangalan niya ay sasagot siya. Kaya lang di makapagsalita ng malinaw, yung nany ay nana…” Longalong explained.
When she first brought Angeline to the doctors, they would say she could be suffering from lack of essential nutrients and vitamins.
However, a relative helped Longalong get a second opinion from another physician who later named Angeline’s condition as Progeria.
Progeria, according to the Wikipedia, is “an extremely rare genetic condition wherein symptoms resembling aspects of aging are manifested at an early age. Also called Hutchinson–Gilford Progeria syndrome, this has a very low incidence and occurs in one per eight million live births”.
According to the online encyclopedia, children born with Progeria live for only about thirteen years or up to 20. Others may even reach their forties.
Longalong said that as a widow, she had a hard time attending to the child while accepting laundries for their living. She had two children, including Angeline.
Before her death, Angeline suffered from cataract on both eyes. She could not eat solid food and could not take liquid by herself.
Her face turned to look like that of an old woman too.
“Mahal na mahal ko at ng kapatid niya si Angeline,” she said.
Rowena Longalong, a widow, said she took a hard time accepting the fate of her only daughter, Angeline, whose body was laid to rest in a public cemetery here Tuesday.
Angeline, her second child, died of Progeria Syndrome.
Death records showed Angeline died of cardiopulmonary arrest probably caused by Progeria, about two weeks after she was rushed to a local hospital on May 21.
Longalong said Progeria symptoms manifested to her child as soon as she reached the age of two. “Parang normal naman siya nung ipinanganak,” Longalong said.
But the family later noticed that she could not even stand by herself and speak clearly.
“Naiintindihan naman niya sinasabi ko dahil pag tinawag mo pangalan niya ay sasagot siya. Kaya lang di makapagsalita ng malinaw, yung nany ay nana…” Longalong explained.
When she first brought Angeline to the doctors, they would say she could be suffering from lack of essential nutrients and vitamins.
However, a relative helped Longalong get a second opinion from another physician who later named Angeline’s condition as Progeria.
Progeria, according to the Wikipedia, is “an extremely rare genetic condition wherein symptoms resembling aspects of aging are manifested at an early age. Also called Hutchinson–Gilford Progeria syndrome, this has a very low incidence and occurs in one per eight million live births”.
According to the online encyclopedia, children born with Progeria live for only about thirteen years or up to 20. Others may even reach their forties.
Longalong said that as a widow, she had a hard time attending to the child while accepting laundries for their living. She had two children, including Angeline.
Before her death, Angeline suffered from cataract on both eyes. She could not eat solid food and could not take liquid by herself.
Her face turned to look like that of an old woman too.
“Mahal na mahal ko at ng kapatid niya si Angeline,” she said.
