‘Fighting spirit’: LET passer, 20, succumbs to illness after board exam result

Jessa Ganigan did not let chronic kidney disease stop her from reviewing for the LET. Image: Facebook/@sheensheen.retialofacto

One aspiring teacher was able to fulfill her goal of passing the Licensure Exam for Teachers (LET) just days before she passed away.

Jessa Ganigan, the 20-year-old daughter of a farmer and a housewife from La Union, had stage-5 chronic kidney disease. It was only in June 2018 that she had been diagnosed with the illness, and she would go on to fight it for a year and a half, her mother, Melody Ganigan, told INQUIRER.net.

Chronic kidney disease is the gradual loss of kidney function. It can progress to end-stage kidney failure that leads to death without dialysis or a kidney transplant.

According to her mom, a former teacher inspired Jessa to take up the profession. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in secondary education and wanted to teach Technology and Livelihood Education (TLE).

Jessa religiously reviewed for months for the September board exams, according to website PRCBoard.com on Thursday, Dec. 5. Besides her studies, she was attending dialysis sessions twice a week and had planned to get a kidney transplant.

On top of that, Jessa helped her family sell fish and oysters and manned their flower shop on the weekends.

Melody said, “I was very proud of her because of her braveness, [to have] a daughter with a strong fighting spirit and determination to fulfill her chosen course.”

Jessa was confined in the hospital when the results were released on Dec. 1. Her mom described the moment of finding out when she passed as a “very priceless happiness,” with Jessa crying tears of joy.

“‘Thanks to God nakapasa ako. Dininig mo ang aming panalangin. Salamat sa lahat lahat,’” she recalled her daughter as saying.

(Thanks to God that I passed. You heard our prayers. Thank you for everything.)

A congratulatory tarpaulin hung above her hospital bed with her graduation picture that showed her beaming brightly. On Dec. 3, she passed on.

Jessa’s loved ones hang a tarp above her hospital bed to congratulate her.  Image: Screengrab via IheartkidneyIsavelife

Melody knows her daughter is happy for achieving her dream. “Hindi mo naisip ang iyong karamdaman bagkus mas lalo kang nagpursige itong matapos at maipasa,” she said.

(You did not think of your condition, but you persevered even more to finish and to pass.)

“Ikaw ‘yong anak na magandang tularan ng karamihan, hindi sumusuko.”

(You are that daughter who many should emulate, one who does not give up.)  /ra