My name is Jennifer Arañas, and I am from the Philippines. I’m a single Mom of three kids. My eldest child is 17, the second is 10,  and my youngest is 9.  I worked overseas in South Korea for 11 years to send money home to provide for my family.

In September 2020, my sister-in-law, who is the guardian of my children, told me that my youngest son, David, began having vision problems. After steroids were not successful, it was recommended that they travel to a larger hospital to be seen by a pediatric neurologist.  In November of 2020, my son was diagnosed with adrenoleukodystrophy. When I was told of the horrible things that would happen to my son, I had to come back home to the Philippines to care for him. Two weeks after diagnosis, he had a seizure and had to be hospitalized three hours from our home. My son has been fighting for three years, suffering terrible pain and spasms, and has lost his ability to eat or chew. We travel for hours to obtain the medicine necessary to care for him and often go without, due to financial restrictions and inability to access care.

I need to fight. I’m his hands, arms, feet, and life. And I’m so grateful to the Lord; whenever I need help, He always uses other people to help me. There’s a hope that one day, my son will be healed. Until now, I can’t grasp adrenoleukodystrophy. How can I understand the thief who stole my son? And now, as a mother, I need to accept that everyday things happen to my son David. I have other children. We need to live an everyday life. Smile, eat, cry, work, make myself busy, and spread love to everyone. I believe that one day, when I wake up, there’s a cure for ALD. Thank you to all the Mothers for helping me whenever I need it. Thank you so much. GOD bless you all.