Her name is Tabitha Maina, a wife and a mother of two. Her life changed when she suddenly went blind, three years ago, while teaching her pupils at Ndarugo Primary School, Nakuru County.
She was marking her students’ books when she suddenly stopped seeing and was rushed to Egerton University hospital where she was diagnosed with a hysterical condition. After the surety of regaining sight failed to materialize, she sought medical assistance at the Rift Valley General Provincial hospital but still no ailment was detected. She later went to Kikuyu hospital for tests but doctors dismissed her as having a ‘non-existent disease’. The prognosis was no different at Kenyatta National but they referred her to a neurologist to examine her nerves. However, lack of finances made it an impossibility and thus it seemed her life living in total blindness had been sealed.
She became a burden to her family but her husband remained supportive to her. Her life began to change after David Wagema, a District Human Resource officer with the Teachers Service Commission advised her to enrol at a special school for the blind and make something useful out of herself.
After a series of paperwork, she got enrolled at the Machakos School for the blind. After six months of learning how to use the white stick, brail language and also how to type using a specialised computer, she graduated and was sent back to her former school as a special teacher.
On the 25th of March this year, the unexpected occurred. She was at a prayer service when her eyesight returned. She has seen several ophthalmologists and they too cannot believe or explain what happened to restore her sight.
“The fact that I can see again is nothing short of a miracle. At 52 years I have lived two lives, one as a blind person and the other as a person with sight.”