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Maricel Laxa recalls son’s heart operation at age 4: ‘I really felt the presence of the Lord’

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Pao Apostol

<p>Maricel Laxa has time and again proven that she is an inspiring mom for raising five God-fearing kids with her husband Anthony Pangilinan. But perhaps she deserves props for being a strong woman who has shown strength when her son went under the knife at the age of 4. </p><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CUcdoNrleu2/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14" style="background:#FFF;border:0;border-radius:3px;box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15);margin:1px;max-width:540px;min-width:326px;padding:0;width:calc(100% - 2px)"><div style="padding:16px"><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;align-items:center"><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:50%;flex-grow:0;height:40px;margin-right:14px;width:40px"> </div><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:column;flex-grow:1;justify-content:center"><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:4px;flex-grow:0;height:14px;margin-bottom:6px;width:100px"> </div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:4px;flex-grow:0;height:14px;width:60px"> </div></div></div><div style="padding:19% 0"> </div><div style="display:block;height:50px;margin:0 auto 12px;width:50px"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CUcdoNrleu2/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style="background:#FFFFFF;line-height:0;padding:0 0;text-align:center;text-decoration:none;width:100%" target="_blank"><svg height="50px" version="1.1" viewBox="0 0 60 60" width="50px" xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><g fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd" stroke="none" stroke-width="1"><g fill="#000000" transform="translate(-511.000000, -20.000000)"><g><path d="M556.869,30.41 C554.814,30.41 553.148,32.076 553.148,34.131 C553.148,36.186 554.814,37.852 556.869,37.852 C558.924,37.852 560.59,36.186 560.59,34.131 C560.59,32.076 558.924,30.41 556.869,30.41 M541,60.657 C535.114,60.657 530.342,55.887 530.342,50 C530.342,44.114 535.114,39.342 541,39.342 C546.887,39.342 551.658,44.114 551.658,50 C551.658,55.887 546.887,60.657 541,60.657 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style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:50%;height:12.5px;width:12.5px;transform:translateX(0px) translateY(7px)"> </div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;height:12.5px;transform:rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px);width:12.5px;flex-grow:0;margin-right:14px;margin-left:2px"> </div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:50%;height:12.5px;width:12.5px;transform:translateX(9px) translateY(-18px)"> </div></div><div style="margin-left:8px"><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:50%;flex-grow:0;height:20px;width:20px"> </div><div style="width:0;height:0;border-top:2px solid transparent;border-left:6px solid #f4f4f4;border-bottom:2px solid transparent;transform:translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)"> </div></div><div style="margin-left:auto"><div style="width:0px;border-top:8px solid #F4F4F4;border-right:8px solid transparent;transform:translateY(16px)"> </div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;flex-grow:0;height:12px;width:16px;transform:translateY(-4px)"> </div><div style="width:0;height:0;border-top:8px solid #F4F4F4;border-left:8px solid transparent;transform:translateY(-4px) translateX(8px)"> </div></div></div><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:column;flex-grow:1;justify-content:center;margin-bottom:24px"><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:4px;flex-grow:0;height:14px;margin-bottom:6px;width:224px"> </div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:4px;flex-grow:0;height:14px;width:144px"> </div></div><div style="color:#c9c8cd;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:17px;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:8px;overflow:hidden;padding:8px 0 7px;text-align:center;text-overflow:ellipsis;white-space:nowrap"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CUcdoNrleu2/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style="color:#c9c8cd;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:17px;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">A post shared by Benjamin Ryan (@benjaminpangilinan)</a></div></div></blockquote><script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js" type="text/javascript"></script><p>In an interview with Karen Davila, Maricel opened up about how her faith grew even stronger after her experience years ago when her son Benj had a heart operation. </p><p>At first, she and her husband Anthony thought it was just a some sort of stomach problem until they went to the doctor who told them about their son’s heart condition. </p><p>But the more painful part was Anthony had to hear it straight from his son who shared the news through a telephone call. </p><p>His son, according to Anthony, asked him: “Dad, I have a hole in my heart. Can you fix my heart?” To which the father of five responded with: “No, Benj, I can’t fix your heart, but God who made you can.”</p><p>Maricel, for her part, admitted she was “in denial” until the time her son finally underwent the procedure, citing her son’s energy and vigor. </p><p>“Tiningnan ko si Benj eh. Lively energetic and everything. There’s nothing wrong with him. He’s completely fine,” she said. </p><p>She was even hesitant at first to give the procedure a go, saying she told herself she wouldn’t be able to forgive herself if something happened to her son. </p><p>“Eh nandoon na kami, ooperahan na siya, hinahanda na lang siya. Tiningnan ko, ‘No uwi na tayo.’ Hindi natin gagawin ‘to. Kasi baka mamaya may mangyari, hindi ko mapo-forgive ang sarili ko,” she remarked. </p><p>Then again, she felt the Lord’s presence and heard his voice. “I really felt the presence of the Lord, pushed me down my chest and the voice in my ear, ‘He is Mine, who are you?&#x27;” she said. </p><div><a href="https://push.abs-cbn.com/2016/6/1/fresh-scoops/instastalker-meet-maricel-laxas-bff-and-eldest-son-99824"><u><strong>READ: InstaStalker: Meet Maricel Laxa&#x27;s BFF and eldest son Donny Pangilinan</strong></u></a></div><p>“Lord, forgive me, kasi sino nga ba ako? Ikaw ang lumikha sa kaniya, taga-alaga lang ako. Sa iyo siya, pero puwede ba Lord, ibalik mo after the surgery? Ikaw na bahala.”</p><p>Unlike their four other children—Donny, Ella, Hannah, and Solana, their son Benj didn’t train for a triathlon at an early age for fear that his condition might bring complications.</p><p>“Many years passed naging triathlete mga anak namin. Lahat ng mga anak namin pina-train namin except si Benj. Kasi takot ako, baka mamatay ‘di ba?”</p><p>But after medical results have proven them wrong as he was “completely healed.”</p><p>“Wala na, walang ka-trace trace ‘yan. Ipa-triathlon mo na ‘yan. Completely healed, as if walang nangyaring surgery,” Maricel shared. </p><div><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="773" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/65qAqrklfHU" title="YouTube video player" width="1904"></iframe></div><p>“Because of that revelation he became the champion of the triathlon, aquathlon, everything,” she added.</p>

Maricel Laxa said she kept her faith in her after feeling the Lord’s presence during those times.