A twenty-something man with a bright future ahead of him decided to put off
courting or marriage in order to take care of his ninety-six-year-old
grandma full-time. Chris Punsalan is a Filipino digital content producer who
resides in the United States. Since 2016, he has been caring for his
grandmother, or "lola," and he has been garnering popularity on TikTok and
Instagram by sharing videos of him delivering care.
Punsalan is a musician who makes a career by producing beats. He uses
social media to market his songs online. But in November 2019, Punsalan
posted a new sort of video on TikTok, showing his fans another side of his
life as his grandmother's caretaker. The video gained over a million views
in a single day after becoming viral.
Punsalan's grandmother spent twenty years teaching in public schools before
emigrating to the US. She was a constant source of inspiration for her
grandson. Punsalan claimed that despite having a large family—as seen by his
grandmother's 90th birthday celebration—he ended up taking on the role of
primary caretaker because everyone else had jobs and other obligations to
fulfill. It was also his way of repaying his grandma for all the years she
had raised him when he was a little child.
Punsalan received a ton of emails and private messages after sharing his
"Day in the Life of a Caregiver" video. Many of these comments were from
people who were either caregivers for their own family members or loved
watching him interact with his grandma. Initially, he posted movies with the
same topic to capture his time with his grandma and create memories, but the
favorable responses encouraged him to upload more of the same.
Punsalan's movies with his grandmother, however, quickly changed to include
advice on caring for elderly persons with impairments as well as suggestions
for exercises. Punsalan uses the films as a means of communication with
those who may not have heard their native tongue in a while. Speaking
Kapampangan, the seventh most common dialect in the Philippines, at least
2.8 million people, primarily from the province of Pampanga in Central
Luzon, understand Punsalan and his grandmother. As Pulsan clarified:
"It's possible that they no longer reside with their family or that they
haven't heard from their grandparents in a very long time. Thus, they may
identify with their culture through these movies."
Punsalan is also aware of the backlash to his widely shared video, with
some questioning why he felt the need to share his "good deed" online. He
added that even before his grandmother's health declined, he had been
accustomed to recording his life.
Punsalan claimed that the response to his viral video had left him truly
bewildered and overwhelmed. Nevertheless, he has received letters from young
children telling him how much he has motivated them to take care of their
parents or grandparents, so it's unlikely that the complaints would deter
him from posting additional video about caring for others.
Punsalan claimed to have firsthand experience with the isolating nature of
providing care for a family member while his mother worked as a full-time
caregiver. Although he acknowledged that he had difficulties in the early
years of taking care of his grandmother, he was opposed to her being placed
in a nursing facility.
"It is just really hard to see a family member that you grew up with —
knowing to be strong and independent — to see them become so dependent on
other people."
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