Filipina domestic helper Felicidad Muna Mico, 57, spent 25 years serving the family of Madam Dora Sern in Singapore. Mico had practically raised her boss’ children and became their second mother because Madam Dora was busy at work.
But the roles got reversed when Felicidad (known to the family as Auntie Felice) suffered a sudden haemorrhagic stroke. She was in the ICU for a week.
Having considered Felice as part of their family, Madam Dora and her kids took turns in personally watching her at the hospital in Singapore. The kids who are now actually all grown-ups are the ones feeding their nanny – when it had been her doing that some years ago.
Photo credit: Dora Sern /Straits Times
While Felice served Madam Dora for years, it was the boss who would massage her to help nurse her semi-paralyzed body back to life! What employer would voluntarily do that?
But Madam Dora’s help for Felice didn’t stop there. Upon discovering that they could not afford to pay for the hospital bills which had now amounted to over $55,000 (but the insurance Madam Dora bought for Felice was only food for $15,000), the Singaporean not only shelled out her own money to help augment the costs, she also helped raised the money through crowd-funding site, GiveAsia.
Not rich herself, Madam Dora hopes to raise $86,600 not just to pay for the medical bills but also to buy tickets for Felice to go home to her family in the Philippines, pay for her rehabilitation costs in the country, and provide basic provisions for her family for a year.
Felice had been earning $600 a month at her job.
“My oldest son, Eugene, was the one who discovered her unconscious. He thought she was just resting but realized something amiss when he tried to wake her up for dinner,” Madam Dora said. “I couldn’t stop crying when I saw her in the ICU, and I would break down again every time I was at home. I couldn’t cry in front of her because I had to put up a strong front.”