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THE 24-year-old information technology firm employee whose right arm was sliced off in an accident at the Ayala Station of Metro Railway Transit 3 in Makati City on Tuesday has had her limb successfully reattached by doctors, Transport Undersecretary Cesar Chavez said Wednesday.
Chavez assisted the operation of Angeline Fernando at the Makati Medical Center and assisted her family.
Chavez, who accompanied Fernando’s father Jose Jr. and mother Gloria, said Angeline’s attending surgeons told them that the “arm is reconnected to her body; the bone, the nerve and vessels are reconnected.”
“She is under observation at least until Friday. I have been
with Angeline’s father, Jose Fernando Jr., and mother Gloria Callos Fernando since 2:30 a.m. in this hospital,” Chavez said.
“I told the parents that our office will extend financial assistance and will request financial assistance from other government agencies. I will personally supervise this.”
Senator Grace Poe said what happened “was a very unfortunate incident that could have been prevented with a passenger railing safety feature.”
“The riding public faces so many of the MRT’s structural and technical time bombs that put in serious doubt the DOTr’s assurance that it is still safe to ride these trains.”
Senator Nancy Binay called the Transport Department and MRT 3 management to double the number maintainers and inspectors of MRT 3 trains and tracks to ensure passenger safety.
Angeline is working as a Senior Quality Engineer at iScale Solutions, an IT company based in Makati City. She was an SM Foundation scholar at the Asia Pacific College where she finished Bachelor of Science in Information Technology.
“She is a software engineer. She lives in Pasay, a walking distance to the MRT Taft Station,” Chavez said.
Chavez also said Angeline’s mother told him: “Nahihilo si Angeline minsan pag maraming tao, lumalabas siya minsan sa simbahan pag nagsisimba kami kasi nahihirapan siya huminga pag maraming tao.”
The reports showed that Angeline had just gotten off the train at MRT-3 Ayala Station when she felt dizzy and fell on the tracks.
An MRT station supervising officer said the accident happened around 2:30 p.m. at the northbound side of the train station. He added the woman fell into the platform and her hand got caught in a train coupler.
The incident prompted the MRT management to operate half-line or provisional service, carrying passengers only to and from North Avenue station in Quezon City and Shaw Boulevard station in Mandaluyong City for about two hours.
A netizen named Celia, who witnessed the accident, posted in her Facebook “Please help pray for the woman who lost her right arm sa MRT Ayala Station just now. Still shaky while typing this. I was surprised na may babae sa riles trying to go up. Nakakalungkot MRT personnel are not at all equipped to help people when there is an emergency.”
“Good thing one woman was courageous enough to tend to her. She was asking for a cloth to use to her. I gave my cardigan. She tied it on her upper arm to hopefully stop the bleeding. And I had to tell the guards, please get a medic, call an ambulance. Lahat natataranta. No staff had the courage to take the arm from the riles. Please MRT management equip your people for this kind of situation. Mas inuna pa ng iba magpicture sa tao at sa kamay nya na nasa riles pa. Sana naman wag nyo i-post yan sa social media!
Bagong Henerasyon Party-list Rep. Bernadette Herrera-Dy said the MRT-3 management should shoulder all medical, hospitalization, and related post-hospitalization expenses of Angeline.
She also said there is a need to have an insurance in light rail and railway services that will cover accidents and other unfortunate incidents.
“I also take this opportunity to call for much better security and crowd management measures at our light rail and railway facilities. Obviously, the measures they have are not enough,” Herrera-Dy added.
Senators also expressed concerns over the safety of the commuters who endure the everyday long lines and glitches riding the trains. They said the government should come up with the solutions hounding the public transport system.
Among the malfunctions or incidents involving the MRT-3 includes the short-circuit that caused fire in one MRT coach at Kamuning Station in November 2012; a shutdown of MRT operations in October 2013; and when the MRT abruptly stopped at the Ayala station March 2014 resulting in the injury of at least 10 commuters.
Despite the numerous problems, the government imposed a fare hike on the MRT and LRT systems.