Teen on ‘Bawal Judgmental’ reveals his eyesight was saved by AJ Perez

Late actor AJ Perez (L) is the reason why Daniel Delos Santos can see with both his eyes. Image: Instagram/@gelloperez, screengrab via YouTube/Eat Bulaga!

A “Bawal Judgmental” contestant surprised “Eat Bulaga!” hosts when he disclosed that late actor AJ Perez’s organ helped him see again.

Daniel Delos Santos, 17, was among the contestants in the “Eat Bulaga!” segment that brought the spotlight to organ donors and recipients yesterday, Oct. 27.

He said one of his eyes was damaged when he was 1 and half months old, and that it turned whitish.

“Isang mata lang po iyong gumagana sa akin kaya po nahihirapan po ako. ‘Pag nagbabasa po ako, sumasakit ang ulo ko,” he recalled.

(Only one of my eyes was working which is why I had a hard time. My head would hurt when I would read.)

“Sa parents po ni Kuya AJ, at saka sa kanya po mismo, maraming maraming salamat po. Napakalaking tulong po sa akin nung cornea niya po,” Delos Santos said on “Eat Bulaga!” “Habambuhay na pasasalamat sa kanila po dahil malaking tulong po ito hanggang paglaki ko.”

(To AJ’s parents and to AJ, thank you very much. This cornea has been such a great help. I am forever grateful to them because this is a huge help as I grow up.)

Perez died in a tragic vehicular accident in Tarlac in 2011. He had just turned 18 then and was an up-and-coming Kapamilya star.

The late actor’s parents, Gerry and Marivic Perez, decided to donate their son’s organs, and his corneas went to the Eye Bank Foundation of the Philippines. The Eye Bank was also where Delos Santos was waitlisted for a cornea donation.

At 8 years old, Delos Santos got his cornea transplant. Perez’s other cornea went to a man name Lawrence Villanueva, Philippine Daily Inquirer reported in 2016. JB

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