A girl being denied of her childhood by kidney ailment managed to mark her 14th birthday last Wedneday, thanks to benefactors led by restaurateur Richard Wong of Luisa's Café here.

It was the second time that local mediamen led by Dhobie de Guzman of ABS-CBN prepared for Mary Joy Ligudon to blow her birthday candle in an annual toast to her courage in being hooked to the dialysis machine for her four-hour blood-cleansing session three times a week.

"Celebrating with her is the least we can do to toast her will to live as normally as any other child despite her ailment," Wong said

Mary Joy, a native of Aguinaldo, Ifugao, has become a "mascot" of sorts of dialysis patients having their life-time blood-cleansing sessions at the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center.

Fourth of five children of a marginal farmer, was rushed to the BGHMC 2003 for urinary tract infection when she was three..

Her plight got the attention of Gina Epe, a native of Bokod, Benguet, who was visiting a sick relative with her twin daughters, Jordynne and Lordynne.

"My twins overheard the kid's father telling the nurse he had no cash with which to buy the medicine prescribed for his daughter," Ginha recalled. "My kids asked me for some cash with which they bought the medicines."

When the kid's condition improved, her father asked if he could leave her under the care of Gina as they could not cope with the costs of return check-ups.

Gina's growing attachment to the girl made her agree, and her family took over Mary Joy's treatment. Regular heck-ups, however, failed to arrest her deteriorating condition. Her kidneys eventually, necessitating hemodialysis for life that began in May, 2016.

Aside from covering the costs of her dialysis and occasional hospitalization, the Epe family is in search of a kidney donor for Mary Joy to enable her to enjoy what remains of her girlhood and eventually live a normal life. – Ramon Dacawi.