Surgery Helped Ara Jane Get Back to School—and Build a Future
Stories | 1 Feb 2024
Don’t lose hope in God—ever. That’s what Ara Jane wants other kids with disabilities to always remember.
Psalm 37:7 says, “Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him.” Ara Jane and her mom, Aida, spent almost 16 years waiting for the Lord to rescue her from a painful and life-limiting joint condition.
“God heard our prayers when I asked Him to send someone to help my daughter,” Aida says.
That help did eventually come—thanks to the compassionate and highly skilled staff at Tebow CURE Children’s Hospital of the Philippines (Tebow CURE Philippines).
A Long Wait
Ara Jane was born with a serious joint condition that caused her legs to bend backward and forced her to crawl to move around.
Aida knew right away after giving birth to Ara Jane that something was terribly wrong. “I immediately saw that Ara Jane’s legs bent up to her neck, and we didn’t get to see a local doctor until she was three months old,” Aida shares.
Doctors incorrectly told her that Ara Jane had to wait until she was 16 to 20 years old to have surgery and to start saving their money for the procedure. But in truth, if the condition is addressed when a child is young, doctors can treat it fairly quickly and easily. If it is not treated and a child starts walking on their legs, as Ara Jane did, then it becomes severe.
Don’t lose hope in God—ever. That’s what Ara Jane wants other kids with disabilities to always remember.
Psalm 37:7 says, “Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him.” Ara Jane and her mom, Aida, spent almost 16 years waiting for the Lord to rescue her from a painful and life-limiting joint condition.
“God heard our prayers when I asked Him to send someone to help my daughter,” Aida says.
That help did eventually come—thanks to the compassionate and highly skilled staff at Tebow CURE Children’s Hospital of the Philippines (Tebow CURE Philippines).
A Long Wait
Ara Jane was born with a serious joint condition that caused her legs to bend backward and forced her to crawl to move around.
Aida knew right away after giving birth to Ara Jane that something was terribly wrong. “I immediately saw that Ara Jane’s legs bent up to her neck, and we didn’t get to see a local doctor until she was three months old,” Aida shares.
Doctors incorrectly told her that Ara Jane had to wait until she was 16 to 20 years old to have surgery and to start saving their money for the procedure. But in truth, if the condition is addressed when a child is young, doctors can treat it fairly quickly and easily. If it is not treated and a child starts walking on their legs, as Ara Jane did, then it becomes severe.
Ara Jane continued to grow, trying to live a normal life as she adapted to her uncomfortable and challenging disability. Walking was painful, and she struggled to fit in with her peers. She attended school and helped her family with chores when possible but prayed every night that God would heal her. She would tell her mom tearfully, “I just want to walk normally.”
Then Ara Jane’s condition became too painful, and she was embarrassed about her legs, so she dropped out of school. This threatened her entire future—because getting an education meant a stable job and steady income. Without it, she was at risk of never gaining independence, creating more strain on her family and forcing them deeper into poverty.
The family felt hopeless, as they were never able to come up with the money for her surgery. Then they heard about CURE, where Ara Jane could receive life-changing surgery at no cost to their family. Her treatment would be paid for by generous CURE partners.
Aida was relieved and knew surgery at Tebow CURE Philippines was the only hope for Ara Jane. “As a parent, when we are old and gone, we want her to be able to take care of herself and have a better life and a better future.”
A Promising Future
After CURE’s medical team evaluated 15-year-old Ara Jane at a mobile clinic near her home, they booked her for surgery at the hospital—nearly four hours away.
Surgeons at CURE performed a six-hour surgery to straighten Ara Jane’s legs. They then applied casts to keep her legs in the correct position. While Ara Jane recovered in the ward, pastors from the hospital’s spiritual ministry team prayed, sang, and shared the Word of God with her and Aida.
Ara Jane’s recovery was difficult and painful as she fought hard through months of grueling physical therapy to strengthen her core and hips and learn to walk on her newly straightened legs.
Today, four years after she started treatment at CURE, Ara Jane is like any other teenager—she spends a lot of time with her friends, helps out with chores at home, and walks to the store to shop. And—perhaps most importantly—she’s back at school and on the way to building a future she once only dreamed about!
Despite the many years Ara Jane waited for treatment, she remained optimistic and now encourages others to do the same. In fact, she recently returned to CURE to visit and support a young girl named Beby Jane, who is being treated at the hospital for the same condition she had. Beby Jane finds Ara Jane’s story of healing and transformation inspirational as she goes through treatment.
For others like Beby Jane, who are facing a long road to recovery from a treatable disability, Ara Jane emphasizes the need to trust God. “There will be someone who will be an instrument by God to be used as help for you,” she says. “And one day, your healing will be complete, and you can reach what I have reached. It is not impossible. Don’t lose hope.”
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