MANILA - A decade since Fr. Jeffrey Segovia of the Archdiocese of Lingayen, Dagupan was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease, his perspective in life has changed thanks, according to him, to God's grace.
Segovia told ABS-CBN TeleRadyo last Tuesday that he was 29 years old when he needed to go on dialysis as his creatinine level increased.
Aside from a congenital disease in his left kidney which caused shrinking, he also had gouty arthritis that made walking difficult for him.
His conditions pushed Segovia to take pain relievers that unfortunately affected his right kidney later on.
“Dahil po seminarian ako noon, and nakakahiya kapag hindi nakakalakad…, I would take pain relievers for instant relief. And ‘yun naman po ang sumira sa kabilang kidney ko.”
Segovia’s younger sister eventually donated her kidney to him. The transplant happened that same year of 2013.
The priest said that since then, his outlook in life changed as he realized death could come any time. It taught him to make the most of what he has.
“I’m very happy po because I had this opportunity to still serve despite of what I went through," he said.
Segovia confessed to questioning God in the midst of his hardships, but said it is part of everyone's journey.
“It’s okay to feel down. Hindi natin pwedeng laktawan po ‘yun eh, yung pakiramdam na we question God. Sometimes we can even doubt God," he said.
"But you know, we cannot stay there. At the end of the day, we would realize (na) kung hindi tayo kakapit sa Diyos, kanino tayo kakapit?”
Segovia underscored that when hopelessness starts to sink in, people can turn to God to survive, similar to his experience.
“In the things that we are going through, we only need to name grace. There will always be grace. Nakikita natin presence ng tao, yung mga maliit na biyaya na natatanggap natin along the way. Yes, it is not easy. Pero every day, we survive. We get things done one step at a time,” he said.
Segovia has written two books that detail his journey and experience.
He has also studied abroad, and is now as assistant parish priest and an administrator of another parish.
- Hannahlyn Tomaquin, ABS-CBN News Intern