RISA MIRACLE OF MERE MARIE EUGENIE, R.A.
Sometime in 1993, during one of my trips to Paris, St. Clare Teresa R.A., then incumbent
Superior General of the Religious of the Assumption requested me to find a baby girl for a
French couple. They were friends of hers who wanted to adopt a Filipina baby girl. I told her that I would inquire as to how that was done, and that I would ask my friends to look for one.
One day in 1994, Mrs. Cora Atayde, an Assumption old girl, and President of the Assumption
Alumni Association called me that there was a pregnant woman, who was willing to give away her baby because she had two others and could not afford to raise another one. Aside from the fact that she seemed to have been estranged from her husband, because the husband suspected that the child was not his.
Cora Atayde made arrangements for an "ultrasound" to determine the sex of the child, since the French couple specified a baby girl. This was November of 1994, and she was supposed to deliver in February of 1995. Cora and another old girl, Mrs. Nanette Olivares, whose husband's family owned Our Lady of Fatima Hospital in Valenzuela, Bulacan, made arrangements for pre-natal care and periodic check-ups by an Ob Gy. I was told that in the course of her pre-natal examination, she was asked if she had taken any medicines during her pregnancy and she answered that she had taken some allergy medicine (not specified).
As soon as we found out that the baby was going to be a girl, I immediately called up Sr.
Clare to inform the adoptive parents that we had found a baby for them, and that she was going to be born sometime in February of the next year. Sometime after, I went to Paris and the adoptive couple came to see me. They were excited and even brought gifts for the still unborn baby.
On February 19, Cora called to say that the baby was born, a healthy looking baby girl.
The following day, the 20th, Cora again called to say that the mother had already checked out of the hospital and that she and Nanette Olivares were going to bring the baby to the house. I rushed to Shoemart Department Store to buy some necessities, clothes, diapers, etc., a goodly supply for the next few days until I had the time to get better things. They were already at home when I arrived. She was a cute baby, and I thought big for a one-day-old.
She appeared normal and seemed very good since she was not constantly crying.
"She was a cute baby, and I thought big for a one-day-old.
She appeared normal and seemed very good since she was not constantly crying."
I thought it prudent to immediately bring her to a pediatrician since I had forgotten about milk formulas, food, medicines, etc. I had intended to bring her to Dr. Asuncion Relosa, my older girls' pediatrician, but she was not available. So I brought her to Dr. George Alconcel, also a pediatrician, whose room was beside hers. He examined her and said that as far as he could see she was normal and healthy. He also gave feeding instructions.
Everybody doted on the baby. She was very good, and you would rarely hear her cry. All of us loved her and watched her every move. It was nice to a baby in the house again. Our two girls were already way past their teens.
We made arrangements for her baptism. Her baptism was officiated by Monsignor
Carmelo D.F. Morelos, Archbishop of Zamboanga, and was held in the baptistry of the centuries old Basilica Minore of San Lorenzo Ruiz in Binondo, Manila. She was given the name, Tiffane Anne Sophie a name given by her proposed French adoptive parents, Mr. &
Madame Jacques Mabile de Poncheville.

She had her regular check-ups and she seemed to be a good and healthy baby. Near her third month, I noticed that her eyes could not focus well and I told Dr. Alconcel about it. He examined her and said that it was too early to say if there was anything wrong with her. I was not satisfied and since I was leaving for abroad, I asked my husband to bring her to some eye specialists.
In the meantime, we had decided to keep the baby, and the decision was all the more firmed up when found out that there was something wrong with her. We had grown to love the baby and we felt more protective towards her.
On one of Sr. Clare's visit to the country, Ditos and the children broke the news to her that we would keep the baby. We renamed the baby Ma. Carmela Therese Eugenie after Our
Lady, St. Therese of Lisieux, and Blessed Mere Marie Eugenie, the Foundress of the
Religious of the Assumption. We nicknamed her RISA.
We renamed the baby Ma. Carmela Therese Eugenie after Our Lady, St. Therese of
Lisieux, and Blessed Mere Marie Eugenie, the Foundress of the Religious of the
Assumption. We nicknamed her RISA.
Risa was brought to Dr. Manuel Hechanova, our own eye doctor and a classmate of my husband. He diagnosed her having "Nys Stagmus", something to do with the muscle of the eyes. No cure was suggested since she was still very young and he said that sometimes it gets cured with age.
Not satisfied, my husband brought her to his cousin, Dr. Manuel Delfin, a younger ophthalmologist. He confirmed the diagnosis of Nys Stagmus but as he was not a pediatric specialist, he recommended his secior in the University of the Philippines, Dr. Froilan
Innocencio, a pediatric ophthalmologist.
At this point Risa was already six months old. Dr. Innocencio confirmed the previous diagnosis of Nys Stagmus. He also had some tests made to check the strength of the eye muscles. The tests showed a weakness of the muscles and he said that she would difficulty seeing and would never be able to read fine print without use of very high-grade glasses. But she could watch television.
Dr. Innocencio also made an ominous statement. He said that the problem might be coming from the brain. So he suggested that we see Dr. Myrna Fojas, one of the best pediatric neurologists in the country. After a thorough examination, Dr. Fojas suggested an
MRI of the brain. I had told her that Risa could not even hold her head up and was not yet turning. She was developing more slowly than what was considered normal child development.
The MRI was done at the Makati Medical Center, the most modern hospital in the country.
Dr. Benjamin Adapon, the head of the department, did reading and analysis. I was in a hurry to know the results of the MRI, so I contacted a friend who knew the wife of Dr. Adapon who is also a doctor. Dr. Ofelia Adapon made the request for the results. After she was given the results over the phone she told me to just pray for a miracle. "There is malformation of the left hemisphere of her brain. The corpus Callosum that connects the two hemispheres of the brain did not form and the corpus pellucidum was missing. The news was devastating and unnerving.
When I arrived home and gave the news to my husband and children, the two girls cried.
That same evening we stormed heaven with prayers and prayed especially to Blessed Mere
Marie Eugenie. We made the novena to MME and asked for the cure of Risa. I immediately made her wear the medal with the relic of MME.

After two days we went to see Dr. Fojas for her to officially give us the results. Of course she told us the same thing. Then she said that Risa would be prone to seizures and other related illnesses due to this kind of brain damage. We should guard against sudden changes in cerebral temperatures. She also told us that there is no cure and only a miracle would make her normal. She said that there is neither known medication nor surgery for this kind of sickness. To date she has never had a seizure or convulsions.
What to do. I went to see Dr. Relosa, the pediatrician of my two older girls for a second opinion. I told her that I wanted to do something for the baby but she told me not to waste my time since she had a patient with the same diagnosis and the child died at one and a half years old. From the way things looked, the baby girl would be a veritable vegetable requiring constant help.
The baby was so lovable that we thought she would be given all the chances possible.
Every time I talked to a doctor I would tell them about Risa to find out if something could be done. Everyone was of the opinion that only a miracle could cure her. One doctor even said that she would never walk, talk nor see.
I decided to call Dr. Evangelina Poblete, the first pediatrician of my older children, in whom I had great confidence. She had left the country with her husband and was now practicing in St. Tomas, one of the Virgin Islands. She asked for the MRI which I sent by DHL but it arrived warped. I also sent her the results of the MRI and after reading it, suggested that there was no recourse but to bring the baby to the United States for proper evaluation.
She suggested Houston Children's or Children's Hospital in Boston. Dr. Myrna Fojas agreed with the decision.
I opted for Houston because my oldest daughter was being treated for her allergy there.
We were scheduled to go for her regular check up the coming summer holidays. I requested
Dr. Teresa Queng of the McGovern Allergy Center, my oldest daughter's doctor to help make arrangements with the necessary specialists. By fax and telephone, Dr. Queng informed me that she had made appointments with the specialists of international repute.
In the meantime, I had to get passports and make arrangements for U.S. visas for Risa and her nanny. We continued to pray and we asked MME to help us secure the necessary papers so that we could bring her to the United States. This was not very easy because of the circumstances. Besides my condition was that I should be able to bring her nanny, as I would need somebody to take care of her. We finally got the passports and the visas without any problem. This in itself I consider a miracle because everyone knows how difficult it is to get visas to the United States for nannies. This "miracle" of U.S. visas for her different nannies happened three times.
Risa was one year and three months when I first brought her to Houston. The first
Houston doctor that I communicated with and consulted was Dr. Rebecca Schweineke, a pediatrician friend of Dr. Queng. Her first order was for an MRI since the one made in the
Philippines was destroyed. She acted as Head Doctor and chose the specialists in consultation with Dr. Queng.
On this first visit, we consulted with Dr. Hittner, a pediatric ophthalmologist who said Risa would never see because she had no optic nerves. She based her opinion on the tests made in the Philippines.
The others were Dr. John Kirkland, an endocrinologist and Dr. Carlos Rivera a neurologist. It was Dr. Rivera who first diagnosed her malady as "Septo Optic Dysplasia with
Left Schizencephaly". As stated in the report on the findings of the Houston MRI, "the septum

pellucidum is absent, the corpus callosum foreshortened and there is hypoplasia of the optic nerves and chiasm. The pituitary gland and hypothalamic stalk are very small as well." As explained to me in common terms, the left side of the brain did not form completely there were very not enough neurons. Furthermore, the corpus Callosum which connects the left and the right side of the brain did not form, did not exist. The prognosis was very bad. Only a miracle could cure Risa. I was asked to return in six months for further observation.
From Houston, I brought her to the Mother House of the Religious of the Assumption in
Paris. In the presence of the Superior General, Mother Cristina Maria, her general council, and Mere Helene Marie former Superior General we laid Risa on top of the tomb of Blessed
Mere Marie Eugenie and commended Risa's cure to her. We also requested that a vigil light to be kept always lighted at her tomb as an offering for Risa's cure. Since then we have always prayed to Blessed Mere Marie Eugenie for the complete cure of Risa. Mother Cristina placed a picture of Risa at the altar of MME and here in Manila in the chapel of the Provincial
House of the Religious of the Assumption, Sr. Vicenta has placed her picture under that of
MME.
In Manila, we made periodic visits to her Manila doctors, Dr. Fojas and Dr. Sylvia Estrada and endocrinologist, who had attended seminars and lectures of Dr. Kirkland.
After about seven months, I brought her back to Houston. I complained about the numerous bottles of water she would drink throughout the day and night and her constant wetting. She was diagnosed to have diabetes insipidus. As a palliative, she was given the hormone DDAVP, administered through the nose twice a day, in the morning and at night. It worked.
She was also prescribed daily injections of growth hormones, Genotropin since her pituitary glands did not secrete enough to make her grow because the were small in size. In addition to Dr. John Kirkland, the endocrinologist and Dr. Carlos Rivera the neurologist, I also brought
Risa to a new pediatric ophthalmologist, Dr. Malcolm Mazow to see if something could be done about her eyesight. As I mentioned, Dr. Hittner did not make new tests and based her diagnosis on the tests done in the Philippines. I was not satisfied with those tests. Dr. Mazow recommended new tests to be made on her eyes and when he got the results he was very happy. He said that he would put her on prescription eyeglasses and see how she would respond. Perhaps the miracle had begun. I was again asked to bring Risa back in six months.
The Houston doctors were monitoring Risa closely because of her neurological disorders, her serious endocrinological insufficiencies but most of all they feared seizures and so her body temperature had to be constantly monitored. As mentioned earlier, she never had any seizures or convulsions.
All were surprised that Risa's face appeared so pretty and normal. She could not use her right hand and had difficulties with her right leg, so she was also being given intensive physical, occupational and speech therapies.
In 1997 when I brought her for a check up at Houston, Dr. Carlos Rivera wrote dated
March 26: "Maria C. "Risa" Bondoc is a patient in our office. She was septo-optic dysplasia.
This neurological disorder is typically devastating. Her present capabilities are truly exceptional. Risa has made remarkable progress and is expected to continue to advance. I doubt that she will recover fully, but her present level of function is considered extraordinary."
This was in early 1997, as of date she has made even more remarkable progress, and Dr.
Rivera calls it a miracle.

They confirmed the findings of the doctors in Houston that only a miracle could cure
Risa. All this time we have been praying continuously to MME.
She has been brought to the United States for examination, six times. In 1998 I was told that Boston was the best place for rehabilitation. So I asked Sr. Clare Teresa to find out the possibility of bringing Risa to Boston for her physical therapy and since we were going to
Boston anyway, we might as well have her seen by a Neurologist, an endocrinologist and an ophthalmologist for second opinions. In addition we would also see an Orthopedist. The
Boston doctors are: Dr. Lawrence Karlin, orthopedist; Dr. Donna Nimec, physiatrist; Dr.
Robert Rust and Dr. Alcy Torres, neurologists; (Dr. Robert Rust is no longer at Boston
Children's.)
They confirmed the findings of the doctors in Houston that only a miracle could cure Risa.
All this time we have been praying continuously to MME.
Since 1998, we have been going to Houston and Boston for Risa's check-ups. In 1999 when we went to Houston, Dr. Carlos Rivera suggested that Risa be evaluated for Botox injections to relax the muscle of her right leg. We were referred to Dr. Donna Nimec, a physiatrist of Boston Children's and Spaulding Rehabilitation Center, the best Rehabilitation
Center in the world. She was given the botox injections last Aug. 1999 and we were told that the effect lasts from 3 to 4 months. So they requested us to bring her back. We brought her back last March and they were all surprised that she did not need another series of Botox injections. We attribute this to all the prayers and the novenas we have been making to obtain this special favor through the intercession of Blessed Marie Eugenie.
The reason for the Boston is primarily the Spaulding Rehabilitation Center, reputed to be the best in the United States. Her legs are undergoing intensive therapy to straighten them out. Since her right side is spastic, she does not have full control of her arms and legs.
Right now if you see Risa, she walks, talks and sees. From not being able to even lift her head nor turn on her belly she is now a normal growing child. She is very talkative and likes to go out with me. Since my two girls have their own group of friends my constant companion to the grocery, department store or anywhere I have to go she wants to come with me, which makes me very happy because she keeps me company.
I am supposed to bring her back to the United States in November or December this year.
They will conduct another MRI if needed for the cause. During these last visits they have not wanted to conduct an MRI because they said that just by looking at her they can see that something happened in the brain, and is not of their doing. (If the brain has not changed, then her component is all the more miraculous.)
Since 1998, I have been taking her to Dr. Alexis Reyes a developmental Psychologist.
Last Wed., April 19 Risa had her 4th evaluation and she again said that the way she has developed is a miracle. She has had patients with the same malady and not one has performed the way Risa has. Risa has all the symptoms of the disease called Septo Optic
Dysplasia. Besides, such as Nys Stagmus and hypoplasia of the optic nerves, diabetes insipidus, foreshortened corpus callosum, and absent septum pellucidum. I was told that two or three of these are more than devastating. Risa has all.
It was Dr. Alexis Reyes who advised me not to send Risa to a special school. For her preschool, she was enrolled in the "Early Learning Center," a pre school for normal boys and girls. She assimilated well and her classmates and teachers loved her. Some of the parents and yayas called her the most friendly since she knew most of them, and would greet them by name. She was there for two years from the time she was three years old.

A few months ago she took the entrance exam for Prep at the Assumption College. The guidance counselor who tested her said that she passed with flying colors. She is now ready for school come June when the school year commences.
It is amazing to see her the way she is since this disease is really devastating. All her doctors are willing to testify that they have never seen a child severely afflicted with this malady develop in the way Risa has. Nothing known medically can be done or administered for the agenesis of the Corpus Callosum and the Corpus Pellicidum. It cannot be explained medically and scientifically how Risa has developed and is developing. All the pertinent doctors in the United States and here in the Philippines are willing to testify to this.
Her eyesight has improved tremendously. This is her third change of eyeglasses and her grade has improved all the time. I am convinced that she can see even without her eyeglasses. Because sometimes she refuses to use them while watching television.
The Botox injections, the serial casting and the brace have improved her walking. She can even run now and her spasticity is hardly noticed. She talks and and can she talk. She can talk your ear off.
All her doctors in Houston, in Boston and in the Philippines are willing to certify that Risa's condition and cure are a miracle, unexplainable medically and scientifically.
Risa seems to be very special child, favored by God in many ways. She is very adult in her ways. You just have to explain to her why she is being given daily injections and having tests and treatments and she understands and tells other people when they ask her that it is goods for her. She does not complain and rarely cries. She has an excellent memory for people she has met and can give the names when she meets them again even after months without seeing them. She has an exceptional disposition and reaches out towards people making her the darling of her teachers, doctors, nurses, hotel personnel, nannies and people she meets. She has a certain charisma that attracts people to her. When we are walking in the malls or in Church or anywhere that there are people they immediately notice her and she starts talking to them. In Church she is silent and knows how to pray. When I go to the
Assumption in San Lorenzo she always makes it a point to go to the cloister to ask any nun for permission to go to the chapel to pray to papa Jesus. If the sisters are praying she joins them in the Office and will not leave until they finish. At the same time, she seems just like a normal five-year-old.