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BEYOND THE CALL OF DUTY A doctor’s tale, A soldier’s heroism *Editor’s Note:* This is a heartwarming story of a military doctor and a pregnant mother, both divided by culture and geography, yet fated to meet each other in an experience that essayed the innate kinship shared by brother Filipinos. Amidst the divide, this is an undisputable proof that Filipinos will forever be brothers, and war nor cultural differences will never kill the spirit of nationhood. Late in October, 24-year old Nelsa Nabil was already on the throes of delivering her first child. She was unfortunate to have been suffering a fate resulting from economic deprivation because her hometown deep in the islands of Sulu is where local terrorists roam. When it was time to deliver her first born, the long-haired Muslim beauty was ferried to the nearest hospital five kilometers away in Jolo. In lieu of an ambulance, which was either non-existent or beyond her means to pay, she was transported aboard the first available land vehicle – a four-wheeled metal contraption mounted with an internal combustion engine, and without the benefit of a proper flooring. And trouble for the infanticipating mom began. A TALE OF PAIN. Natural method of giving birth is one of the most painful experience a woman can ever had. For Nelsa, this is not true. While being ferried aboard a vehicle that passed as a mode of transport, her long mane entangled with the camshaft. The engine’s power and the shaft’s rotation all combined to claim her hair, scalping her in an instant akin to an American Indian ruthlessly scalping a cowboy’s wind-blown head. It automatically detached her scalp from her skull, including her left eyebrow and upper eyelid on her left eye socket. Only her left eyelashes, her right eyebrow and a few strands of hair on her hairline remained. Her cry of pain on that hurried trip towards the hospital could have been audible a kilometer away, the pain staying on until she gave birth at the hospital without knowing she had her first born. After giving birth, Nelsa was brought to Zamboanga General Hospital, the nearest medical facility that can look after her. In the absence of, or due to reluctance of private specialists, she began the next chapter of her painful ordeal. She began losing the weight she gained during pregnancy. She was also in danger of going blind because her left eye remained open and the body fluids to lubricate the drying eyeball were gone. A DOCTOR’S TALE. Colonel Joseph Acosta, the commanding officer of the Philippine Air Force General Hospital at Villamor Air Base in Pasay City who also happens to be one of the few physical reconstruction specialists in the country today, was soon informed about the case of a poor Muslim mom from Jolo, Sulu. His medical comrades in Zamboanga, professional peers whom he met during his younger days, have constantly update him about the case. A former burn specialist at the AFP Medical Center in Quezon City, Colonel Acosta felt to need to join the effort to recover Nelsa’s life after viewing the pictures and reading the medical bulletins sent through internet. He soon found himself asking the permission of Lt. General Oscar H Rabena, the Philippine Air Force Commanding General, for his participation in the case. He was driven by his sense of pity combined with civic duty to provide his medical expertise. The Air Force core values of service and professionalism was ringing loud in his ears for this is, as he reasoned before General Rabena, an opportunity for him to share his blessings. The Air Force commander supported Colonel Acosta and sent him to take on the task. Soon, the military doctor was fast tracking the resolution of his pending tasks at the Air Force General Hospital. He, in fact, bought a ticket using his own money for the earliest flight to Zamboanga. On the interim, he was constantly in touch with Dr. Ferdie Acalal, a general surgeon who is also a consultant at Zamboanga General Hospital. The trip to Zamboanga was set on the first Saturday of December. But last Friday, December 4, after the flag lowering ceremony at Villamor Air Base, he soon found himself amidst an exhaustive activity transferring his belongings from his officer’s quarter. He joined in lifting, pushing and pulling everything clear from his old quarters to a new one, physically draining him before boarding the first available flight to Zamboanga before the break of dawn. Not wanting to lose precious hours, he went directly to the airport from nearby Villamor Air Base on that Friday night where he grabbed precious minutes of snooze instead of inaugurating his new quarters with a day of home-service massage or a day at the spa as what urbanites do upon hint of any physical exhaustion. Indeed, the doctor is a soldier – ready to respond to a brother in need! Upon landing at Zamboanga, he went directly to Edwin Andrews Air Base at the opposite end of the runway where the PAF 3^rd Air Division holds fort. Within the base’s confines is the EAAB Hospital where Nelsa has been confined since mid-November. Before Colonel Acosta arrived, she was wary about the presence of soldiers considering that she’s from the heartland of Abu Sayyaf country. But that wariness was soon supplanted by gratitude after Colonel Acosta donned his scrub gown, turning him into Doctor Acosta to successfully begin a long medical procedure to save Nelsa. Upon close scrutiny, Doctor Acosta decided to perform an eyelid procedure that called for skin grafting under local anesthesia. This was a three-hour operation that was deemed a priority or else Nelsa will lose her left eye. As for her scalped head, Doctor Acosta decided to let a thin membrane grow first so that that skin to be grafted will have something to hold on. Her long, wavy mane will, however, be gone forever. CALL FOR HEROES. Totally saving Nelsa, who has not seen her first born yet, calls for a specialized machine used in harvesting skin to be grafted to her head. Colonel Acosta is now doing the rounds of hospitals that will let him use the machine even for a day. By January, he expects a kindred spirit in one of the big hospitals in Manila to lend him one. Internet and social networking sites also helped in raising additional awareness for the plight of Nelsa. Using his Facebook account, Colonel Acosta has been receiving encouragement and support from his friends in the medical community. Eventually, he expects to finally bring Nelsa back to her old glory. The Filipino in him, after noting that the once healthy Nelsa has grown thin due to loss of sustenance, donated from his own pocket additional amount to sustain her nutritional needs of at least six eggs per day. He also promised her a brand new wig as a memento for handling the delicate medical case. The heartfelt hug of Nelsa, in gratitude for his attention when no one seems to care, is enough for him to keep the torch aflame in order to save Nelsa. Colonel Acosta is now back at the Air Force General Hospital, managing the PAF’s main medical facility at its very home, Colonel Jesus Villamor Air Base. In a time when the nation is looking up for heroes to emulate, his continuing heroism is a call for each and everyone of us to do our share within our own respective fields of expertise in reaching out to our fellowmen – Christian, Muslim or Lumad – who are in dire life-threatening needs. If a military doctor, a colonel who heads an important medical facility at that, can give his professional time to save Nelsa, why can’t we also share our blessings to our brethren Filipinos? *(Ralph Flora)* THIS IS NOT PROSTHETICS NOR A VISUAL TRICK. The scalped head of 24-year old Jolo native Nelsa Nabil, shown in a medical documentation photograph taken by Colonel Joseph Acosta of the Philippine Air Force General Hospital at Andrews Air Base Hospital in Zamboanga City, is a delicate case as every reconstructive surgeon will agree TOP CLASS JOB BY A TOP CLASS MEDIC. Colonel Joseph Acosta, commanding officer of the Philippine Air Force General Hospital who is also one of the few reconstructive surgery specialists in the Philippines, is shown delicately applying a gauze bandage to the scalped head of 24-year old Jolo native Nelsa Nabil who lost her scalp after her long hair entangled with the camshaft of a vehicle that was rushing her to a Jolo hospital to deliver her first born. She was flown to Zamboanga where Colonel Acosta’s medical peers asked him to perform the medical procedure. BUILDING BRIDGES. The delicate case of Nelsa Nabil, though technically a case of medically reconstructing a scalped head, has become a showcase of an inter-cultural cooperation in the troubled Philippine south Photos, clockwise from top left: Colonel Acosta performing a skin graft to salvage the victims left eye; After the skin graft procedure, her left eye were stitched closed to allow the skin supplanted skin to take root while allowing the eye to gain a long deserved rest and lubrication; Colonel Acosta being interviewed by mediamen at EAAB Hospital after the procedure. The case gained widespread exposure and contributed to the confidence building measures between Christians and Muslims in Mindanao