lady down! lady down!

This morning, my mom got hit by a motorcycle. A slow-moving motorcycle (according to the driver) that came out of nowhere (according to my mom.) Here’s how the day went about.

I woke up at 8am, just after 6 hours of sleep because I intended to catch my mom before she went to the market. I was to ask her to accompany me to the seamstress where I planned to have my boyfriend’s pants cut (because Alterations Plus charges Php140 per pair of pants which you’ll get a day after while in the market, it will just cost you Php25 per pair, while you wait so there.) By 9am, we were at the seamstress and I was being a bit meticulous in giving instructions because the lady didn’t seem to be paying me much attention, and the fact that she wasn’t writing down the measurements made me apprehensive, especially since the pants weren’t mine. Anyway, my mom told me she’d go ahead to the parlor (which was nearby) so I said, “Okay,” and that was it. A few seconds after, and by few I mean like three, I saw a motorcycle in front of the shop where I was fall to the ground, albeit slowly. Of course, people started screaming and I tried to get a good look at what had happened. At the same time, I was trying to figure out where my mom was because with all the commotion going about, she was one to make usyoso when things like these happened. However, she was nowhere to be found, and in my mind, I was thinking, perhaps all at once, “Hmmm...she couldn't have already crossed the street. That would've been too fast. But then again, if she hasn't crossed yet, that would've been too slow."

At that point, it began to dawn on me that something wasn't quite right. Daughterly instinct, if you may. So I went to the street, and true enough, my mom was being helped to her feet, bruised and a bit bloody, by the young man who was driving the motorcycle. And although things were already obvious, the first thing I said was, "What happened?!?!"

My mom's legs looked pitiful, if not horrific. I mean, there was a deep gash on her knee, lots of bruises on her thigh and shins, not to mention a nasty cut on her left toe. Eew, really. And while I was in the process of taking in all that just transpired, the young man was so apologetic and nervous at the same time that I actually felt for him. Hey, it was a good thing he didn't leave my mom alone, right? He kept saying how sorry he was and that he was going to bring my mom to the hospital. And this elitist mother of mine demanded to be brought to the nearby private hospital (couldn't really blame her, and the hospital was really just 3 minutes away) but of course, since they didn't have money, the young man (whom I shall now call Richard because by that time he had already shared with us his name) and his aunt could only bring us to the public hospital about 10 minutes away.

On our way to the hospital, we found out that Richard's daughter was to be christened a good two hours from the time of the accident. Oh dear, I can't tell you how sad I felt for this 23-year old father who couldn't attend his sickly baby's own christening (the cooking oil he bought at the market was intended for the post-christening party, by the way. plus, it might entertain you to know that although both my mom and Richard fell to the ground, the cooking oil bottle was spared a good deal.) And, just a month ago, this guy also met an accident while on the very same motorcycle (and that time, he lost consciousness and clearly was the victim). So, when we got to the hospital, the guys there said, upon seeing him, "Ikaw nanaman?!" Ha! Talk about luck, or the lack of it.

To cut the long story short, the fact that they were so hard-up yet so willing to take the cudgels for their actions softened my mom's heart. However, we cannot romanticize the situation wherein there is dire lack of money (Richard has two young kids but no job, his dad works as a security guard at Benpres) and an obvious traffic violation (he was driving without a license). I mean, there clearly was someone at fault, someone who got hurt, and in between all the pity and the empathy, there still had to be some atonement.

Thus, my mom settled for a police blotter and had an x-ray. Since the public hospital didn't have x-ray machines, we eventually (and by eventually I mean a good 6 hours after the incident) ended up at the private hospital where my mom wanted to be admitted right from the start. The x-ray staff said each area would cost P545 each, but the dad thought the P545 covered for all so he got a crisp 500-peso bill. When he realized that it was P545 each, he kind of flinched a little, yet still remained very willing to pay. At this point, I really was oozing with pity and I glanced at my mom with a look that probably said, "Kawawa naman sila!" So my mom said she probably didn't need her elbow examined anyway, just her legs. That saved them a bit of money, money that they may have even borrowed out of necessity.

That day I was so torn! I was concerned for my mom (imagine, I would've been an orphan!) and so deeply affected by the situation of the young man who probably regretted having taken his motorcycle out (because objectively speaking, his house was so near the market!) to buy a bottle of cooking oil.

That day, too, I validated the fact that there is nothing in me that desires to be a doctor. Nothing! Can you imagine, I spent at least 4 hours in the emergency room where I saw a woman with a deep gash on her head enter covered in blood, and a kid who had severe burns across his chest, among others. If I may say, though, this kid had the most unreasonable father in the world. The kid was on his feet having his wounds treated and he was really, really crying. Couldn't blame him. But what does the father say? He goes, "Wag ka ngang iyakin!" Exaj! And I said to my mom, "E kung siya kaya yung masunog?" Really, I'd be the first to tell him, "Wag ka ngang iyakin!" Then we'll see how he'll do.

As I said, my mom had a police report furnished to document the incident. In the form, the two parties involved had to describe the accident. Now, this is cute. Richard had this to say (and I'll copy exactly what he wrote):

Ako ay galing sa palengke papunta sa bahay ng ako ay makabanga ng isang ginang sa hindi sinisadyang pangyayari. Babalik na po ako ng bahay galing sa pagbili ng mantika habang bumibiyahe na bangga ng patawid na ginang. Hindi po mabilis ang pag andar ng motor parehas po kameng natumba agad po akong tumayo upang tingnan ang taong nabangga ko tomabi pa kame upang mag usap nagkasundo pa kame na papagamot ko siya.

And here was what the policeman wrote in his report:

Investigation conducted showed that Veh-1 (Motorcycle) was traveling along Sierre Madre St. coming from Libertad St. going towards Mariveles St. and when upon reaching the place of accident the front portion of Veh-1 accidentally hit victim/pedestrian who was crossing Sierra Madre St. coming from easternside towards westernside. Due to the impact victim/pedestrian forcely kneeling down on the surface of the road and at the same time her elbow used to support for not lying down while Veh-1 (Motorcycle fell down. As a result of the accident victim/pedestrian sustained injuries and brought to Mandaluyong City Medical

He lost me at "forcely kneeling down..." Hihi...

So my mom got hit by the motorcycle a few minutes before 9am, we got out of the hospital by 3pm. What happened next, you may ask. Well, my mom got a pedicure. Won't you look at that?

Actually, she really set out that morning with a pedicure in mind. But with the accident and all, she said that gave her more reason to have a pedicure because her nail polish didn't survive the accident, apparently. There she was with her legs full of gauze propped up on a stool, having her nails done, when just a few hours before, she almost died.

That's how we Cervantes women probably are.