Can you help this girl with epilepsy?

MISAMIS OCCIDENTAL, Philippines – A picture says a thousand words.

I remember my life as it was before. I grew up in America and to even fathom not having health care or food upon need was unheard of for me.

I have been in the military. I have many friends with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and other brain issues but it’s different when it’s a child. I began Hybrid with the intent of helping people. It isn’t just agriculture but the human touch that I feel the world has lost. (READ: How agriculture saved a former US soldier)

Fatima is the child in that picture. She is 6 years old and she has epilepsy. She goes everywhere with me when I am in the mountains. Even when I rest, she is close by.

One day I was digging in my compost pile and I saw Fatima very distraught. I knew she just had an attack. I dropped my shovel and grabbed her. It was the first thing I could think to do to be honest. I was fighting back tears because I felt so helpless.

This was the fourth time I had been around this and I was sick of standing idle while some people just shrugged their shoulders and said whatever. That’s not who I am as a person.

I made arrangements to get Fatima to the hospital so she could at least get medicine and suppress these attacks for her safety and comfort. It was not easy but through the kindness of a very close and dear friend we arranged a CT and EEG scan for Fatima. The CT scan revealed no abnormalities which was a relief and which left us with other questions. We were elated she had no tumors or anything of that nature.

Our concerns as we wait for the EEG scan results are the same. What if they reveal nothing as well? My worst fear is that even if I did my best we still could not help properly address this.

Fatima’s mother studies organic agriculture. She wishes to make it a way to earn a living. Her father works in Dipolog. Living in a poor community in Ozamiz City, Misamis Occidental, they don’t have enough to get Fatima treated.

So I ask you rhetorically what would you do if you were me? Can you watch this happen? Can you just walk away unaffected?

I can’t and I won’t. Hybrid isn’t about just agriculture it’s about humanity. Money and material are irrelevant because in the end, they won’t follow you. All you will have is the impact you leave and the lives you touch. – Rappler.com

Any interested to help Fatima may contact the author at www.facebook.com/hybridagri.

Patrick Taylor is a former US soldier who settled in Mindanao to start Hybrid Agriculture.