Ex-PAGASA spokesman's wife awakes from coma

"Miracle patient." This was how doctors and nurses in Darwin, Australia called the wife of the longtime face of PAGASA, Nathaniel "Mang Tani" Cruz, after she suddenly woke up from a two-week coma. As the popular PAGASA spokesman for many years, Mang Tani would calmly and clearly warn millions of TV viewers about oncoming typhoons.

A trained meteorologist, he accepted a job in Darwin, Australia in 2010. Last February, his wife Gloria came to visit him for his birthday. That was when she suffered a stroke before being considered brain dead and a "hopeless case" by doctors. "Hindi ko na makakalimutan yung karanasan ko habang dalawang linggong nasa coma si Glo," said Mang Tani in an e-mail sent to GMA News Online. According to Mang Tani, Mrs. Cruz had a stroke during her sleep. He rushed her to the hospital at 3:00 a.m. on March 7. Based on a CT scan, the doctors said she probably had a brain tumor. “The doctor didn’t elaborate. He just said I should prepare myself for anything serious that could happen to my wife," he said. She had to undergo brain surgery immediately because the part of her brain that serves as the command center was seriously damaged, Mang Tani said. “The local doctors and the Adelaide (a city in South Australia) experts had confirmed that Glo had a stroke that night and her brain is swollen. A vein supplying blood to her brain is blocked and they can’t find it. Because of lack of blood and oxygen, her brain started to swell," he wrote in his email. At the hospital, Mang Tani could not do anything but pray in the chapel. He was introduced to Father Joe, a priest who was called by the hospital to give his blessing to Mrs. Cruz who was in critical condition. Father Joe prayed over Mrs. Cruz before she underwent brain surgery. “The moment I saw my wife in the ICU I thought I’d collapse. I couldn’t believe that I was looking at the woman I have loved for 27 years. She was not my wife. Her face was swollen. Her hair was gone. Tubes were inserted in her mouth. There was tube in the top of her head. Another in her hands. And she was lying almost lifelessly." At that time, nearly all the doctors who examined his wife said her case was "hopeless" because of the extent of the inflammation of her brain. "She was pronounced 'brain dead' and they kept telling me that she would not last in the next 48 hours," Mang Tani recalled. Just visiting "My wife wanted to surprise me on my birthday which was Feb 22. For the first time since I was 29 years old, I thought that I’d celebrate my 51st birthday alone here in Darwin," Mang Tani wrote to GMA News Online. "She had just spent Christmas and New Year here with me, and when she left last January 17, our plan then was that I’ll have my very first holiday in Manila from April 24 to May 9, after being here for a year, to celebrate her 56th birthday on April 27," Mang Tani recalled. "But Glo decided to be with me on my birthday and she arrived on February 24, just for a two-week stay. I was so happy since she really tried her best to be with me knowing that she’s busy as PAGASA’s personnel officer," Mang Tani said. Considered brain dead After Mrs. Cruz suffered a stroke and had to be operated on, a doctor approached Mang Tani to discuss his wife's condition. “What he emphasized was that at that moment, Gloria was suffering. Although she’s in coma, she is definitely in pain. He added that since Gloria’s condition is almost hopeless, I could agree with them to remove the ventilator, the life support system attached to Glo," Mang Tani said. Mang Tani asked the doctor to wait for the arrival of their children from the Philippines before deciding on the matter. Mang Tani told the doctor that a miracle could still happen. Only God knows how long his wife’s life would last, he told them. “I told him that God knows how much I love her. I don’t want her to suffer but I don’t want her to leave us," he said. “He said he’ll give me another 48 hours and after that they will decide," he added. However, the doctor told him that there was already a standing order that once his wife'’s heartbeat stopped, the nurses would not revive her anymore because she was already brain dead. Mounting hospital bill The doctor later met Mang Tani again, this time with a social worker and a patient advocate. They told Mang Tani to consider having his wife’s life support system removed, considering the mounting hospital bill. “I replied that the hospital bill should not be an issue here. If I need to pay for the rest of my life, so be it. But I will never agree that the ventilator be removed," he told GMA News Online. For two weeks, her condition did not improve. On March 17, the doctors again talked to Mang Tani and his children, telling them to have Mrs. Cruz's life support system removed. However, Mang Tani and his children pleaded to the doctors not to remove her life support sytem. “He said that if we believe in miracles, we should not be afraid of letting the apparatus be taken away. Once the ventilator is taken away, let’s wait for that miracle," Mang Tani recalled. “All of us were crying, asking for their mercy because we knew the consequences," Mang Tani said. Because of their plea, the doctors decided to insert a tube in Mrs. Cruz’s throat, which helped her breathe, before finally removing her ventilator. Then on March 20, Mrs. Cruz woke up from her coma. “Nagkakagulo na kami sa kuwarto ng mga anak ko. Umiiyak kami, tumatawa, nagtatalon. Kasi nga sabi ng mga doktor at nurses wala ng pagasa si Glo," he said in another email to GMA News Online. Mang Tani said their eldest son asked Mrs. Cruz if she could see them and she nodded. The doctor also asked her if she could hear him and she also nodded. Amazed, the doctor said, “It’s a miracle." “I can still remember what he said to me before he left the room, 'I am happy that my prognosis was wrong,'" he recounted. “What if I agreed to their request to let her go? Siguro si Glo ang nagsabi sa akin na huwag akong pumayag dahil lalaban siya para sa akin at sa mga anak namin," Mang Tani said. “My wife is alive. God has shown His great power," Mang Tani said. Celebrating the gift of life On April 27, Mrs. Cruz celebrated her 56th birthday. Mrs. Cruz can now move every part of her body. However, she can still hardly talk because of the tube in her throat. She is currently undergoing physical therapy to help her walk again. "Even the doctors are amazed at the rate of her recovery. She can move every part of her body. Her hands, her feet, her facial expression. She can also utter some words," Mang Tani said. "God has proven to us that if we put our full trust in Him, He'll make a way. He has shown that He alone determines whether a life will continue or not. GOD has given us what we have been praying. What our beloved friends have been praying for...a miracle," Mang Tani said. - VVP/HS, GMA News