An angel on the road in CDO helps an 89-year-old motorist

Courtesy of Jevie Abucejo Malferrari

CEBU CITY, Philippines— What will you do if your car breaks down in the middle of the road?

You go and ask for help. But what if you are an elderly man who is having it a little harder than most?

This is when a good samaritan comes in the picture.

The sun was scorching hot at noon of October 21, 2019 when another motorist, Jefferson Malferrari, 32, played angel to an elderly man who was struggling to get his car moving.

Malferrari tells CDN Digital that an old van stopped in the middle of the road going to the Kagay-an Bridge in Cagayan de Oro City that afternoon.

“It was around noon time when I passed by Kagay-an Bridge,  Mr. Ombiga was driving his van when his clutch was failing and can’t go upward towards the bridge,” narrates Malferrari, who posted the incident on the same day on his Facebook page.

According to Malferrari, the driver of the vehicle only introduced himsef as a Mister Ombriga and that he is 89-years old.

It turned out that Ombiga has been keeping his foot on the brakes for over an hour already to prevent his van from sliding backward.

“The van was falling down backward. So he was holding his brakes. Nobody cared, I came to him and saw him struggling,  he was in a great panic,” he adds.

To make matters worse, Ombiga looked dehydrated because he has been struggling for a long time under the heat of the sun and had no one to help him, except Malferarri.

“He was really exhausted. I saw his wheelchair at the back. The thing is if he let go of the brakes, the van would do downward and hit another car, so I quickly talked to him and helped him,” Malferrari says.

Before doing the needed steps to get the car moving, Malferrari says he ran back to his car and grabbed his water and gave it to Ombiga. It was during this time that he learned that the driver was 89-years-old.

After pulling Ombiga’s van to safety and had it checked, Ombiga was in total awe of the kindness he received that day.

“He was unbelievably glad to see someone like me coming to him. He even asked me who I was and why I helped him on that hot day,” says Malferarri.

Malferarri also tells CDN Digital that he was dismayed with some of the motorists that day who did not even bother to ask what was going on with the van but instead just honked their way out of the traffic.

Nonetheless, we are truly glad to see someone like you, Malferarri, who is always ready to take the extra steps for others.

One more thing. Malferarri was with his wife,  Jevie Abucejo Malferrari, that day making their way to drop their donations to some fire victims in their city./elb