Even in her passing, Camille Santos Samson touched many generous hearts to carry out her final project
Call it the hand of fate or divine design that turned the harrowing experience of Camille Santos Samson into a narrative of selflessness, prompting a call to action. “Because of Camille, we found the problems of the buildings in PGH [Philippine General Hospital],” says the architect, Dan Lichauco. But let’s go back to that pivotal moment.
After midnight of May 16, 2021, a fire broke out on the third floor of the eight-storey Central Block Bldg in the PGH compound. Samson was on the top floor, recuperating from a massive surgery that took out several organs affected by the ovarian cancer she was battling. The cancer, first diagnosed in 2012, came back in 2019. After surgery and chemotherapy abroad, she came home, but the aggressive cancer cells still spread and warranted this massive surgery.
Hooked onto four drain tubes, Samson had to obey the immediate evacuation orders and walk down seven flights of stairs as the elevators were unusable. She sent text messages to her husband Manny and her good friend Libet Virata, both to apprise them of her situation and to request if either of them could arrange for her to be collected and brought home.
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“I saw her missed calls around 2:00 am already,” remembers Virata, who was charging her phone away from her. “I immediately called her back to ask why she was still awake and why she was calling me.” Samson told Virata about the fire but added, “All my nurses are so efficient they helped me walk down the stairs with all my drains and tubes still attached”. And added, “I was calling you to ask if you have a driver to pick me up because I have not reached my husband yet. But guess what? My nurse says her car is in the parking lot and that she can drive me to my house. Don’t worry about sending your car; I’m already in her car on the way home.”
After that experience, Samson told Virata: “I want to do something for PGH, especially after that fire which, ironically, had no casualties. Everyone, including the neonatal patients, was saved. It is a testament to how good our Filipino nurses and doctors are.” Working on Samson’s wish had to take a backseat to her situation, which had taken a turn for the worse. Samson died in June 2023. Before her death, however, Samson joined Virata and six others (Tang Singson, Bettina Osmeña, Philip Cu Unjieng, Gina Aboitiz, Elena Coyiuto, Marga Aboitiz Zobel) to form the non-profit Helping Women and Others Foundation (HWAO) with the aim of addressing complex projects related to cancer.
