Forty-year-old Gerardo “Gerry” Mariano remembers when he acquired cerebral palsy. At two-and-a-half years old, he fell out the window of his family’s nipa hut home and sustained a brain injury. Since then, the condition has hindered his body movements. “I was called the drunken dancer; walking with crutches and steel braces,” he relates. Still, he remains unfazed by the physical difficulties that he has to contend with. As administrative financial officer of a non-government institution, he lives a productive life and is married to Marlene who is also afflicted with the same developmental disability. They are doting parents to a bright, normally-abled child and are living proof that with the right mindset, one can overcome the obstacles brought about by cerebral palsy. The couple’s attitude and determination to live a normal life is imbued with such an inspiring quality, in fact, that people have taken notice. Their story was once portrayed in a popular television show.
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