Filipino family carry sick mother in makeshift hammock to reach hospital
Filipino family carry sick mother in makeshift hammock to reach hospital

This is the heartbreaking moment a sick woman was carried to hospital by her husband and son in a makeshift hammock.

The poverty-stricken family used a blanket and a 10ft-long bamboo pole to carry the sick woman down steep hills in Antique province, the Philippines.

Arlene Manzano, 41, needed to visit hospital for kidney dialysis but the location of the family's home on a remote hillside prevents vehicles from reaching them.

Karl Avon Manzano, the couple's younger son, recorded his family's journey to the hospital on September 5.

Footage shows his father, Sunny, and older brother Carlos, 14, carrying the makeshift hammock on their shoulders with their mother wrapped inside.

Their mother has severe kidney disease so she can only rely on a scheduled free dialysis to survive.

However, the family lives on top of the mountain with no public transport available.

They carry the hammock through the muddy and steep trail to reach the highway where they can ride a taxi tricycle to the hospital.

The father Sunny said: "The trail is slippery and has a lot of thorns from the wild bushes.

We always get scratches from the trek but we are used to it now." The family also has to pass through a rice field and walk in the knee-deep wet paddies before crossing a river.

Upon reaching the lowland village, they will ride a tricycle that will take them to the nearest hospital which is about 17kilometres far.

Their barefoot journey lasts for almost an hour, but the real challenge is returning home in the night.

The family has to pass through the same obstacles using only flashlights with only the three of them.

The loving father said he will do everything for his wife, but he feels sad for his sons.

He said: "I want my children to live a normal life and not be burdened with problems such as this." Every month, the family needs 4,000 pesos (64GBP) for Arlene's maintenance medicines and 2,000 pesos (32GBP) for their transportation to the hospital, but Sunny's income as a farmer is only enough for food and his children's education.

He said: "I still want to send them to school despite our situation.

I am a neck-deep in debt but I will work hard for my family." Meanwhile, local officials who heard of the family provided them with a wheelchair and education scholarships for the children.