The Story of the Famous Girl Whose Both Hands Were Cut Off

According to Saed News, citing Akharin Khabar, on September 25, 2000, 11-year-old Maricel Apatan was in Zamboanga, a large city in the Philippines, when she left home with her uncle to fetch water. Along the way, four men armed with knives stopped them and forced her uncle to lie face down. They then slit his throat with a knife and killed him.

Maricel was in shock—both because her uncle had been murdered and because the attackers were actually their neighbors. She tried to escape, but the attackers began chasing her. The girl screamed for mercy and begged them not to kill her. Suddenly, one of the attackers struck her neck with a knife, causing her to fall to the ground and lose consciousness.

When she regained consciousness, her entire body was soaked in blood. She noticed the attackers nearby from the corner of her eye but pretended to be dead. After they left, Maricel ran toward her home. However, along the way, she suddenly realized that her hands had been cut off with a knife. Tears streamed down her face, but she kept running.

When she reached near her home, she called out to her mother. Her mother, upon seeing her, screamed in terror and wrapped her blood-covered daughter in a blanket, carrying her to the hospital. The challenge was that it took a 12-kilometer walk to reach the highway. It took them four hours to get there.

Finally, when Maricel arrived at the hospital, doctors did not believe she would survive. Her surgery lasted five hours. Her throat and back wounds were closed with 25 stitches. She barely survived, but she had lost both of her hands. The painful part was that the next day was her birthday—her 12th.

The tragedy did not end there. When Maricel and her mother returned home, their house no longer existed. The attackers had looted and burned it down.

Maricel’s poor family could not even afford the hospital expenses, but Archbishop Antonio Ledesma, a distant relative, paid for her treatment and helped bring the criminals to court, where they were eventually imprisoned.

The remarkable part of Maricel’s story is that instead of giving up in despair, she stood up and continued her life. Instead of being angry at God for losing her hands, she learned to use her wrists creatively. At school, she became one of the most well-behaved and hardworking students.

In 2008, she graduated in hotel and restaurant management, and even won a gold medal in arts and crafts. In 2011, she completed a culinary training course and is now a chef without hands.