When Prince Angelo Betua was born in January, he seemed like a normal baby. But almost a month later, he turned blue and started having trouble breathing.
“Upon the advice of the pediatrician, her mother brought him to the Philippine Children’s Medical Center (PCMC) in Quezon City where he was confined in the intensive care unit (ICU),”
Doctors diagnosed Betua with spinal muscular atrophy type II, a rare ailment in babies. It is caused by the loss of motor neurons that send signals to the brain to control muscle movement.
With Betua in the ICU since April, his hospital bill has ballooned to P1.5 million. To ease the financial burden on his family, PCMC doctors have allowed Katherina and her husband, Angel, to bring him home.