Bianca Umali shared her childhood experience
Kapuso actress Bianca Umali recently opened up about the tragic losses that defined her early years, including the passing of both parents during her childhood and being brought up by her grandmother, whom she considers her personal hero.
During a guest appearance on the show “Oh My Gan!,” Umali revealed that her mother passed away from breast cancer when she was just five years old. Exactly five years later, her father suffered a fatal heart attack.
Reflecting on those moments, the actress confessed that she was far too young at the time to fully comprehend or process the grief of losing her parents.
“I only have flashes of memories. Very few memories with my mom. Very few memories pa na yun are most of it she was already sick,” Bianca Umali shared.
The actress recalled that many of her childhood memories involved watching her mother undergo medical treatment while having to keep her distance due to the illness.
Because her mother passed away, she shared far more memories with her father, who successfully stepped up to play both parental roles.
“I was really a daddy’s girl. And I loved being a daddy’s girl. My dad became both a mom and a dad to me,” she recalled.
She cherished the memories of joining him at work, watching him work on his motorcycle, taking road trips, and making music together. However, tragedy returned when Umali was just 10 years old. On the exact day of her late mother’s birthday, her father suffered a heart attack.
Bianca vividly remembers being in the vehicle during the frantic rush to the hospital, watching her father struggle for air. Tragically, he was pronounced dead upon arrival.
“I both saw their last breaths,” Bianca Umali said, adding that this also happened when her mother passed away.
The actress also shared that the experience completely stunned her, leaving her without the maturity or emotional skills to deal with her grief back then.
It was only as she grew up that she truly began to grasp the gravity of what she had gone through. However, she shared that she never doubted God, even after losing her parents at such a young age.
“I choose to look at it not as something that I will pity myself for. I choose to look at it as something that I have become strong because of my experiences,” the actress said.
After losing her parents, Umali grew up under the care of her grandmother, Mama Vicky, sharing a home with numerous cousins. She recalls that at one time, 15 girls lived under the same roof.