“I am not ashamed of doing everything for him since he can’t live without me,” said Dominga Martin, looking fondly at her son who was peacefully waiting for his new gift of mobility.

Nanang Ingga, as she wanted to be called, is 79 years old; but despite her age, she still managed to accompany her son, Alex Martin, who was chosen to be one of the beneficiaries of Operation Blessing’s wheelchair distribution in Piddig, Ilocos Norte.

Together with her grandson, Nanang Ingga narrated how life has been hard for her and her family: Her husband passed away, leaving her to tend to their family of eight. While she was still grieving, she lost one of her sons.

As if grief wasn’t enough, their house has been ravaged by typhoons for many times she could not even remember, so even at her age, she had to work on the farm and accept laundry from their neighbors from time to time just to bring food on their table.

“If I don’t work, we won’t have anything to eat,” she said in a quavering voice.

Alex was born with epilepsy, and they had been regular visitors to different hospitals and clinics in the province.

“Life is hard, but God has never forsaken me. See, my son now has a new wheelchair. I have been praying for this for a long time. Thank you for coming here,” she said teary-eyed.

More than Nanang Ingga, Alex was all the more rejoicing with his new gift of mobility. He never stopped smiling, more so when he was already sitting in his new wheelchair. He kept on saying “napintas” (It’s beautiful), and people around were equally gleeful with the sight of him smiling wide.

On that eventful day, Alex went home with Nanang Ingga’s answered prayer.

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The gift of mobility is a product of your unending support to our cause. Learn more about what we’re doing to help our kababayans by visiting www.operationblessing.ph. For more stories of hope, subscribe to our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/operationblessingph and hit the bell button to get notified of our latest video uploads. #MissionYouCanBelieveIn #Happy25YearsOB