Playful Crossing On The Road Leads To Motorcycle Accident

Feb. 5,2010
Playful Crossing On The Road Leads To Motorcycle Accident
By Quirico M. Gorpido, Jr.

Maasin City, Southern Leyte-A grade one pupil of Asuncion Elementary School here who playfully crossed the street every now and then while waiting for a vehicle to arrive that would fetch them to a children’s party was accidentally hit by a running motorcab one recent Thuesday at 3:00p.m.
The victim was identified as Esmeralda Makiling Cañon, 8 years old, a resident of brgy. Asuncion (Pacu).
In an interview with LSDE, Lourdes Makiling-Cañon, 44 years old, the victim’s mother, she narrated that she instructed her elder daughter Florida, 13 years old, to watch her younger sister while they were waiting for the vehicle along the road, not far from St. Paul Seminary of the same barangay.
However, while they were congregating at the designated place to wait for the arrival of a pick-up truck owned by a Born Again member, she said, her elder daughter who was with the invited group was somewhat obliviously of her instruction.
She said that according to some children’s account, Florida allegedly failed to watch her younger sister from crossing playfully to and fro on the road, while the vehicle that would fetch them did not yet arrived.
Instead her daughter was busy talking to other children, she said, thus ignoring her filial obligation to her younger sister who could not stay put like the rest.
The victim’s mother disclosed that her youngest daughter was hit on her right leg . She was brought by the motorcab driver to the provincial hospital’s emergency room. Orthopedic Surgeon Dr. Jaime Carbonilla, who happened to be the on-duty physician ordered an x-ray for the patient.
X-ray result showed that the victim had a fractured bone above her knee on the right leg. Dr.Carbonilla explained to Mrs. Cañon that “cementing” the fractured bone was impossible since it needs to be re-aligned first before it can be operated on.
She revealed that although she was not able to ask the name of the motorcab driver, she felt at ease with the assurance of the suspect’s mother named Gloria that she will shoulder all the medical and surgical expenses for her daughter at the hospital.
She also informed that the fully-loaded motorcab coming from brgy.Bugo (all family members) were on their way to brgy. Ibarra to take a bath in one of its beach resorts when the accident had occurred.
But the accident did not stop them from proceeding to the beach resort where they have enjoyed themselves at the sea.
As of presstime the child was still lying on bed. A rope was tied to a bandaged fractured leg that would gradually pull it down thru a huge stone fastened at the end of the rope until it will be re-aligned.
(Quirico M. Gorpido,Jr.)