A Filipino doctor has lost his life in the struggle to contain the spreading CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus. Before passing away, the doctor left a message for his surviving wife and their son, who has autism. The family’s tragic loss exemplifies the sobering reality of the global pandemic yet pays tribute to the triumph of family values over adversity.
Anesthesiologist Dr. Greg Macasaet, a staff member at Manila Doctors Hospital in the Filipino city of Manila, passed away in the early hours of March 22, 2020, after contracting the CCP virus. He is believed to have been exposed to the virus through a patient he was treating.
On the day of Macasaet’s death, his wife, fellow anesthesiologist Dr. Evalyn Macasaet, was also hospitalized after being exposed to the virus herself. The late Dr. Macasaet, preempting the trajectory of his sickness, had left a heartfelt message for his wife and son before his passing.
Macasaet had contacted his friend Caloocan bishop Pablo Virgilio David in the throes of his sickness; the bishop later shared the message in its entirety with the Filipino news media. In it, Macasaet specifically mentioned the welfare of his autistic son, Raymond.
“Good evening, my beloved brethren! The turn of events is just no longer going in my favor. The feeling you get, aside from extreme pains all over, difficulty of breathing and as if all life is being sucked from your body! They will be putting cutdown lines and central tubes on me anytime soon! If they intubate me and place me on ventilator, then the game is almost over!
“We honor a brave man who lost his life in this war,” the hospital’s statement continued. “He lost his life in the service for the Filipino people and our country.”
Dr. Macasaet is not the only Filipino doctor to have lost his life in the battle against the CCP virus. Cardiologist Dr. Israel Bactol from the Philippine Heart Center and oncologist Dr. Rose Pulido from the San Juan de Dios Hospital have also lost their lives to the virus.
All three doctors passed away within 48 hours of one another.
Bactol, just 34 years of age, allegedly contracted the virus from a patient who withheld information about having traveled to China until his condition worsened; by then, it was too late for both himself and his attendant cardiologist.
Photos of medical personnel posted alongside the message depicted nurses and doctors holding printed signs, reading, “We stayed at work for you. Please stay at home for us.”
