Original post here:
[https://www.facebook.com/alec.mapalo/posts/pfbid0u2Pc2G4G7tRzBBUAkupWtKMGk63R53tuGpw8rhz2ZjSYrwuE5pxPntWRuPwsDEN3l]
Returning to that life-changing moment, at the actual site…
It was 2018, along Kayapa Nueva Vizcaya coming from Tabuk, on almost the same day of the year, at almost the same time of late afternoon… I was driving by myself back to Baguio and I thought I already needed to stop, as my chest and arms reached peak discomfort with chest pains and cold sweat.
I went out of the car, sat on a stone barrier thinking I just needed rest and it will pass. But it got worse, vomiting twice, sweating more, so I started calling friends in Baguio, with only one bar of cell signal. But they couldn’t do so much as I also didn’t know where I was exactly! With that 1-bar signal, I tried searching for “hospital” in google map, the nearest that appeared first was as far as Aritao, called many phone numbers but none worked, and still searched and called for more than an hour, and none got through.
It was almost around 5:30pm when I scrolled far more in the search list to find Lt. Tidang Memorial Hospital, at “15mins away”! So I thought, I could drive this! Drove I did, with numbing left arm on the wheel and looking at the map on the phone on my right hand! It was like an hour on a narrow road uphill, without streetlights, no houses and with deep cliffs at the left side.
Then there was the light at the end of the tunnel, as they say… with that light casting a human silhouette as if waiting for me! I actually thought it was already St. Peter! 
At that time, doctors should already be out, except for one (a miracle) who immediately did first aid while talking to a doctor-friend in Baguio on my phone. They can only do so much as LTMH have minimal facilities then, so they decided to rush me to Baguio with their brand-new ambulance (another miracle)… it was 3 more hours to Notre Dame Hospital before an emergency angioplasty was done, arranged by Dr. Raymond Oribio with Dr. Calibuso.
Today, I saw that ambulance, even meeting the same driver who brought me to Baguio, thanking him and the whole hospital for saving my life! The visit made me love life more, the miracle of God giving me another lease on life is transformational! And with two more major hospitalizations after that year, I can’t be more grateful… life truly is the greatest miracle! And the lesson… have a balanced healthy life, physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually… let’s love ourselves more!
And also, I now truly believe I have an angel!
[All rights to story belong to owner. Alec Mapalo FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/alec.mapalo. Vizcaya Reporter FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/vizcayareporter]
