Pagadian City nurse who died in accident honored

COTABATO CITY — A rescue nurse from Pagadian City died in a vehicular accident while on duty on Sunday, February 2, leaving his co-workers and family proud of his service.

Jasper Alcala, an emergency nurse from Pagadian City Medical Center, died when the ambulance he was in, carrying a patient to Cagayan de Oro, plunged into a roadside ravine in Barangay Dableston, Sultan Naga Dimaporo, Lanao del Norte.

“We give Jasper our sincerest salute. We are grateful to him. He did his job as a nurse, at the cost of his life. His commitment to saving the life of others, the life of his patient in that ambulance will never be forgotten,” the incumbent mayor of Pagadian City, Samuel Co, said on Monday, February 3.

Officials of the Sultan Naga Dimaporo Municipal Police Station told reporters on Monday that Alcala hugged the patient he was to bring to Cagayan de Oro City when the ambulance wiggled uncontrollably, swerved towards the side of the highway and fell some 40 meters down.

Passengers of the ambulance who survived the mishap have confirmed what Alcala had done, telling reporters that he even covered the head of the patient in his care with a pillow before the vehicle rolled over several times and landed upside down in the deep side of the highway.

Alcala succumbed to injuries from the accident, which also left the ambulance driver and two others hospitalized. Friends and relatives took to social media, praising Alcala’s heroism.