24-year-old man in Quezon faces ridicule over leg that swelled to more than twice its size

A 24-year old man in Quezon faces ridicule over his leg that has swelled to more than twice its size. What is his condition?

On a “Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho” episode, Rene shared that his left leg now weighs over 25 kilograms.

He owned only four pair of pants, which were tailor-made for him because of his condition.

To earn a living, he would help his mom Pablita sew hats, but he could offer only so much given his condition.

“Nahirapan siya tumindig kasi pag natindig siya, parang nabibigatan siya. ‘Yung kanyang kaliwang paa, walang lakas. Parang walang buto. Hindi niya maitungtong mabuti (He has a hard time standing because his leg is too heavy. His left leg has no strength. He can’t stand on it properly),” said his mom Pablita.

As Rene’s leg continued to grow, his tailor-made pants slowly ripped.
“Tinatanong ko kung bakit kay Reneboy pa nangyari iyong kapansanan. Bakit, mahal na Diyos, doon pa binigay sa anak ko ang ganoon? Sana hindi, hindi sa anak ko binigay ‘yun (I kept asking the Lord why Rene was given such a condition.)

Pablita believed that Rene had acquired his condition because she loved to eat carabao meat when she was pregnant with him.

There is an old Filipino belief that the features of whatever a woman craved during pregnancy may manifest on the child. Rene shared his mom’s belief.

Rene went to school for a while, but had to stop because of bullying. He said no one even wanted to be his groupmate during school activities.

His father told him to ignore those who treated him badly, but Rene couldn’t take all the bullying anymore, so he stopped going to school.

Rene shared, however, that he regretted his decision because it could have been his ticket to a good job.

“Sana hindi na ako tumigil sa eskuwela. Sana may trabaho na sana ako kung wala akong sala. (I wished I continued going to school. I would’ve had a proper job),” he said.

The KMJS team reached out to Rene and helped him get his leg checked. They had to walk for 30 minutes because the ambulance couldn’t go near Rene’s place.

According to Dr. Chuen-yin Dy, an infectious disease doctor, Rene has elephantiasis. She said this condition developed from filariasis, a parasitic disorder that was not treated properly. Dy said that there was no cure for the disease. There is also no evidence to link food cravings during pregnancy to a condition of the child.

“Sa lahat ng nakakita nito, sana matulungan ninyo ako na mawala ito, na sobrang hirap. Napakahirap ng kalagayan ko. Sana mawala na ito para mabuhay ako nang normal katulad ng iba. Kahit sana na matulungan man lang ako na mawalan ito nang kaunti kasi hindi man lang maibalik sa dati (To everyone who’s watching this, I hope you can help me. I hope this goes away, so I can live a normal life just like other people.)

For those who want to help Rene, please deposit to:
Savings Account
Account Name: Rene Boy Igloso
Account No. 6205137563 (for online banking/online transfer/Instapay)

Account No. 00-513756-620-3 (DBP over-the-counter transactions) – RC, GMA News