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It was on September 25, 2000. Maricel Apatan was an 11-year-old girl in Zamboanga. On that day, this little girl went with her uncle to draw water.

Along the way, they met with four men who were carrying long knives. They told her uncle to face the ground, and they hacked him on the neck and killed him.

Maricel was in total shock, especially that the men were their neighbours. She tried to escape, but they ran after her.

She cried, “Kuya, ‘wag po, ‘wag n’yo akong tagain! Maawa po kayo sa akin!” (“Don’t kill me! Have mercy on me!”)

But they weren’t listening. With a long knife, a man slashed her on the neck too.

Maricel fell to the ground and lost consciousness.

When she woke up, she saw a lot of blood. She also saw the feet of the men around her, but she pretended to be dead.

When they walked away, Maricel ran back home. But along the way, she saw that her two hands were falling off. Because the men hacked them too. While she cried, she kept running.

 She would faint and fall. But she would regain consciousness and begin to run again.

When she was near her home, Maricel called her mother.

Upon seeing her daughter, her mother screamed in terror. She wrapped her bloodied child in a blanket and carried her to the hospital.

Here was the problem: the distance from her house to the highway  was a 12-kilometer walk. It took them four hours just to reach the highway.

When they arrived at the hospital, the doctors thought Maricel was going to die. For five hours, they operated on her. It took 25 stitches to stitch together the long wound in her neck and back.

Maricel barely survived. She lost both hands.

Ironically, the next day was Maricel’s birthday. She was 12 years old.

But the tragedy didn’t end there. When they went home, they saw their house was gone. It was ransacked and burned down by the goons.

Being a very poor family, they also didn’t have P50,000 for their hospital bills.

But God sent many angels along the way to help them.

Archbishop Antonio Ledesma, a distant relative, paid the hospital bills and helped them bring the criminals to court. They were sentenced to prison.

Instead of cursing God that she had no hands, she now uses her wrists in incredible ways that will boggle your mind.

Maricel was cited as the most industrious, best in computer, and most courteous student in the School for Crippled Children.

In 2008, she graduated in a Hotel and Restaurant Management course. She even received a gold medal for Arts and Crafts.

In 2011, she finished her education to be a chef. Yes, a Chef without hands.

Nothing can stop this young lady from reaching her dreams.

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