Wounded soldier sips own blood to survive during clash

ZAMBOANGA CITY – Fearing he might bleed to death, a soldier wounded while battling the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan sipped his own blood.

Sgt. Erico Paglinawan of the 44th Infantry Battalion narrated that while waiting for medical help to arrive, he saw blood oozing from a wound in his left chest. Worried about hemorrhage, he began sipping the oozing blood.

Paglinawan disclosed this after his right hand was seen still stained with blood while confined at the Camp Navarro General Hospital in the Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom). He was in the hospital along with 50 other soldiers wounded in the fierce gun battle on Saturday in Basilan.

He disclosed that they were pursuing a high-value target when their lead plaobliterating toon hit a landmine set up by Moroccan bomb expert and jihadist Mohammad Khattab in Barangay Baguindan, TipoTipo town.

The landmine exploded at about 7: 55 a. m., immediately killing five soldiers and wounding several others.

The explosion was followed by a volley of gunfire and M203 grenades that filled the soldiers’ routes with smoke. This vulnerable position led to the wounding of more soldiers, including Lt. Remigio Licena.

Paglinawan said he was wounded after he was hit by direct fire in his i left chest.

saw blood oozing. I was afraid I might succumb to hemorrhage, so I sipped my blood,” Paglinawan said.

He added that despite his wound, he still managed to fight and repel the Abu Sayyaf group from completely them.

Maj. Filemon Tan Jr., Westmincom spokesman, said despite being wounded, Lt. Licena still managed to fend off his attackers before he died.

It was almost a closequarters combat since the firefight occurred about 10 meters away,” Tan said, citing accounts from the wounded soldiers.

Another wounded soldier, Staff Sgt. Eduardo Capalac, said the attackers were already positioned even before they approached the area.

We were met by several snipers and the attackers were already in C formation as shown by the volley of fire coming from all the sides of our approach,” Capalac said.

He said that the hail of bullets mowed down the soldiers even before they could retaliate.