Lightened burden

Swiss national Luka Krizanac shared on social media a video of himself making cappuccino at home using a coffee machine, taking as much pleasure in the process as in savoring the brew.

A few months ago, coffee-making was totally impossible for the 29-year-old. Now, he’s even contemplating working as a barista — using both a coffee maker and his hands.

Krizanac, who lost parts of his limbs when he was 12 due to sepsis, had waited 17 years for matching hands from a donor. He underwent a rare double-hand transplant at Penn Medicine in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA last fall.

The operation, led by Dr. L. Scott Levin—chair emeritus of the medical academy’s Department of Orthopedic Surgery and professor of plastic surgery—involved suturing blood vessels together, CNN reported.

As Krizanac healed, the nerves in his attached hands regenerate and gradually restore functionality.

Meanwhile, former laborer Aldrick Cuevas of Naga City, Camarines Sur, has turned his physical imperfection into an asset, becoming a successful businessman.

Cuevas has been the family breadwinner since the death of his father in 2012. He stopped going to school in Grade 5 to work in sugarcane fields, Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho reported. He later tried his luck in Batangas and Bulacan as a construction worker, pig handler, and kargador.

While carrying heavy loads to earn a living, he explored digital content creation, hoping to earn like other TikTokers. He endorsed and promoted products such as bags, shoes, and extension outlets, earning commissions from the orders he generated, according to KMJS.

One product the jack-of-all-trades promotes on TikTok is an underarm deodorant that also lightens dark armpits. Trying it on himself, the skin on his underarms lightened—proof, he said, that it truly works. He convinced so many viewers to buy the product.

Cuevas’ commission from the underarm whitener jumped from five figures to six, allowing him to buy a new house for his once-poor family, multiple motorcycles, and even a lot he converted into a barangay basketball court.

He now pays for his brothers’ education—one of them has already graduated.

The family now looks to a future as bright as Cuevas’ lightened underarm.