Oil Rig Burn Victims Taken Off Critical List

by Joseph G. Lariosa

 

CHICAGO (jGLi) – Two of the three Filipino burn victims last Nov. 16 at the Gulf of Mexico fire and explosion have now been taken off the critical list.

Renato Dominguez, 52, a pipefitter, showed signs of recovery when he recognized his wife, Eva Dominguez, at his bedside in Baton Rouge (Louisiana) General Hospital and asked for a kiss Saturday (Dec. 1).

“When Rey gestured that he wanted a kiss, I knew the worst was over,” according to a press release from the Philippine Embassy in Washington, D.C., quoting Eva, a 49-year-old accountant and mother of three from Bataan. “I thank God for hearing the prayers of my family and the Filipino people.”

The other victim, who has also recovered, has remained unidentified upon request of the family. The third Filipino, Wilberto Ilagan, was described in “good condition.” Ilagan, 50, welder, from Batangas, could now walk unaided.

Ambassador Jose Cuisia, Jr. cheered the recovery of the three after the two-week-old tragedy that claimed the lives of three other Filipinos.

Consul General Leo M. Herrera-Lim of the Midwest, who has jurisdiction over Louisiana, was in Baton Rouge Rouge last Saturday to condole with the families of Avelino Tajonera and Jerome Malagapo, who later both died. Mr. Herrera-Lim was also there to visit the three patients and their families. Also in Baton Rouge were Labor Attache Luzviminda Padilla and Welfare Officer Saul De Vries of the Philippine Embassy in Washington, D.C.

Malagapo, 28, is a pipefitter from Danao City in Cebu. The third fatality was Ellroy Corporal, a 42-year-old rigger from Iligan City. (lariosa_jos@sbcglobal.net)

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Photo Caption:
SIGNS OF RECOVERY: Consul General Leo Herrera Lim visits Renato Dominguez, one of three Filipino offshore oil workers injured in the November 16 oil platform fire in the Gulf of Mexico, at the Regional Burn Unit of the Baton Rouge General Hospital in Louisiana on Saturday, 1 December 2012. Also in photo are Mrs. Eva Dominguez and Deputy Consul General Orontes. (Photo from the Philippine Embassy)

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