You may have heard of Lance Raymundo the singer/actor, but to me he’s my nephew Reggie.
Reggie’s lola and my dad are cousins. That makes him my sort of nephew. But I see him more like a cousin, or my buddy. We both grew up in Greenhills and I have fond memories of playing at his parents’ house.
Reggie and I became close during the ’80s when we would travel to Japan together. I wanted to become Lisa Bonet. He wanted to become Robert Downey Jr.
This was Reggie as a little boy.
We drifted apart before I moved to New York for a few years and he decided to try showbiz.
He changed his name to Lance and he became buff.
He works out a lot!
Lance is truly one of the kindest souls I know, and I’m glad his life was spared when he met a freak accident last March 19, 2014.
Around 10 AM, Lance was at his gym doing a dumbbell fly workout, while laying down on the bench press.
He narrates: “There was an 80-lb. barbell on top of me because the workout was a ‘superset’, meaning, right after I do 10 reps with the barbell with the help of my trainer, I rest it back in place and proceed to do the dumbbell fly workout.
After completing 10 reps of the dumbbell flies, the trainer leaned forward to assist me in lowering the dumbbells, but his body weight accidentally dislodged the barbell, which fell on my face and smashed it.
“This kind of superset workout has been done in many gyms for over 30 years, so it’s not a new workout. But I guess talking to other people while assisting someone can prove to be dangerous.
Luckily, very kind souls at the gym, some of whom I’ve never met, rescued me. A nurse named Paolo who was working out at the time asked for my car keys and rushed me to the ER.
I sustained multiple fractures in my entire (middle) face and parts of my orbital socket (casing the eyeballs).
Luckily my eyesight has been spared! I consider myself lucky because had it even hit just a half an inch either above or below the point of impact, it could’ve been fatal!”
A team of neurosurgeons, eye specialists and EENT doctors are attending to his case. They have assured Lance that his face will be fully restored after two major surgeries are completed.
Lance is in no way suing or badmouthing the gym or trainer and didn’t even want to disclose the names “as no one wanted this accident to happen.” (Obviously we now know the name of the gym because it’s on Instagram.)
Lance asked me to write about this because, “in the many years I have been working out, I have witnessed so many close calls due to horsing around, not paying attention, neglect, or even listening to an iPod while working out.
I hope this serves as a warning for everyone’s safety. I survived a near-death experience so I can be an advocate of this safety reminder,” Lance said.
Lance’s first surgery will be on Tuesday, followed by a second one after a month. Please keep him in your prayers.
