For the past three years, Gilbert Sanchez, a 47-year-old from Agusan del Sur province in Northern Mindanao, was known as the man who lived in the tree.
Local news station GMA went to visit Sanchez for a story on its evening news program Kapuso Mo Jessica Soho last month to figure out why he went up, and refused to come down. Sanchez was only referred to as “Caloy” in the video report.
His brother Aldrin told GMA that his brother would not go down because he was afraid of being killed.
According to ABS-CBN News, Sanchez is the eldest of eight children. His wife died in 2000 after giving birth to their second child.
In a country known for having extremely hot summers, and a rainy season that brings at least 20 typhoons a year, not even his own family could explain how he managed to survive sitting on a tree for that long.
His mother Winifreda brought him food every day since he first climbed up to his perch in December 2014. She would also bring him scissors once in a while so he could cut his hair.
While retrieving a man from a tree sounds like a simple thing, Sanchez was not an easy man to bring down from his 60-foot-tall perch.
If the fact the only thing he kept close to him was a bolo — a native Filipino sword — wasn’t enough to keep people away from trying to rescue him, his family said he would also defecate and urinate from where he was hanging.
However last month, Sanchez was finally rescued by local emergency medical responders and police, who cut down the tree and lowered it down slowly with a backhoe.
He was rushed to the hospital right after where he was treated for insect bites, rashes, and was injected with anti-depressants.
Then he was immediately seen by a psychiatrist, who told GMA that Sanchez displayed symptoms of psychosis and would need psychiatric treatment to recover.
For those who want to help pay for Sanchez’ treatment, his mother Winifreda is asking for donations.
Check out this video for details on how to donate:
