PSHF

' Cris Ann had been looking forward to her birthday which was on November 28th. On that day, she woke up early to wash herself. She really wanted a birthday cake and so her parents Helen and Crispin went out of their way to get her one. As soon as the nearest mall was open, the three of them went to buy a birthday cake. Later in the day however she looked glum and despite her family’s coaxing to make her smile for the photo taking, she did not. The following day, she had a temperature and so Helen took her to the provincial hospital. A week before, Cris Ann had her regular blood transfusion. This time, the doctor ordered another transfusion but this one did not help. Early in the morning of December 1st, her third day in the hospital, Cris Ann asked for her father and then said to her mother that she was feeling tired and so wanted to sleep. She went to sleep, holding her mother’s hand and passed away quietly.'

Despite being stricken with aplastic anaemia, Cris Ann had always been full of life and enthusiasm. She dressed carefully and fashionably, and saw to it that each item of her apparel matched. Every time she came to the PSHF office, she would always look for Poirot, one of our cats. In fact, the first time she noticed him, she wanted to take him home! So when I needed somebody to look after two tiny kittens I had rescued in a park, she came to mind. She readily agreed when I asked her if she could look after them. She went home and prepared a small corner in her parents’ house where the kittens could be put.

Cris Ann is sorely missed by her parents, her sister Cristy, her school friends and we, the team in the PSHF Bacolod office who remember her with deep affection.