A paralyzed man in Camiguin, Philippines, has been making a living for three decades by extracting dried coconut kernels.
He was working despite being confined to a bed after he lost the ability to move his lower body.
Jerome used to handle the kernels while he sat down in his wheelchair, but he later felt pain after sitting down for a long time and had since been working in bed by lying sideways.
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Children sold him dried coconuts for P6 per piece and left them by his bed and he had a bamboo stick designed to pick up the dried coconuts. When he skinned the shell, his nephew Jovy helped him smoke-dry the kernels and sold it for P 41 per kilo.
Jerome said he used the earnings to pay off his debts and lied on an old and torn mattress, a piece of sack, and a bamboo stick and his paralysis happened just a month before his 18th birthday.
“Palagi akong nanaginip na nalulubog dito sa putik ’yung katawan ko. Halos siguro isang buwan. Pabalik-balik,” he said in an interview at “Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho” (KMJS)
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“’Yung likod ko parang nadurog-durog. Agad inoperahan ako para lang daw makaupo kasi ‘pag wala daw ’yun hindi daw makaupo.”
Jerome had never seen a specialist since his injury, so the KMJS team took him to one in Cagayan de Oro City to assist him. Dr. Wency Daya, a neuro-spine expert, told Jerome after his evaluation that he had total spinal cord damage, the most serious type of spinal cord injury.
Jerome was given a wheelchair and a foldable bed from a non-profit group, and the KMJS team also offered pillows and financial aid.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development also added Jerome to its roster of people with disabilities (PWDs), gave him groceries, and promised to keep an eye on his well-being.
