MANILA, Philippines—Growing up Francis Derrick Alcantara was angling for scholarship either through tennis or football just like his brother, national team stalwart Francis Casey Alcantara. But his dreams got derailed when he injured his hands in high school.
So he pursued a degree in medicine and is now waiting to take his board examination to become a full-fledged doctor. Friday morning he stumbled on a different kind of test that he passed with flying colors: He delivered a baby at curbside.
“I went out and saw people looking, but nobody was helping her, so I decided to do what I’m trained to do,” said Alcantara, a medical intern at Northern Mindanao Medical Center in Cagayan de Oro City.
Mother and child were safe. And the bloody, messy heroics were captured on videos by passersby and have since become viral. The 26-year-old Alcantara is hometown hero overnight.
“My girlfriend told me to check my social media. She said I have a lot of fans,” he said in jest.
A graduate at Xavier University-Jose Rizal School of Medicine, Alcantara is planning to soon become surgery resident. Huge departure from his childhood dream to become an elite athlete.
“I think I won more than 10 titles in 12-under tournaments,” said Alcantara. “At that age group, nobody can beat me in Mindanao during those days.”
But he shifted to football where he got offers to become a scholar just like Francis Casey who by then was leading Pepperdine University in the US NCAA.
“Now I still play tennis and football but not competitive,” said Alcantara. “My love for sports is still there.”
Evidently, the lessons sports taught him stuck with him. On Friday morning he was trying to catch some sleep after a long duty when he heard the commotion outside his house.
They live nearby a barangay hall health center. The mother went there to give birth not knowing it was ordered closed the day before because of Covid-19 cases.
The baby came out even before he could put on gloves. “It (baby) may have touched the cemented pavement for a few seconds. So cleaned him and the mother,” said Alcantara. “I had no time to think, I did what I’m supposed to do.”
As a doctor-in-training Alcantara, former age-group tennis champ, was given a test and he aced it.