A young girl, 23, from Kebirichi village, Kitutu Masaba constituency, in Nyamira County is appealing to President Uhuru Kenyatta and other well wishers to help her raise Sh 4million for a tracheal treatment overseas.
The girl, who is supposed to go to St Michael Hospital, New Mexico in the United States, as she breathes through a Tracheotomy that is incised in her windpipe, says it risks her life.
In her short message to the President, she indicates financial constraints are putting her life on the beam balance, and therefore asks for her voice to be heard and salvage her life because she has a lot to offer the country.
“I have been frustrated and disappointed by my leaders whenever I go for assistance from them,” she says.
According to her mother, Beatrice Ontita, during an exclusive interview with this reporter on Monday morning, she said her daughter started with a normal cough in 2010 while in Form Three and has taken her to several hospitals, whereby Biopsy has been subsequently done to trace the cause of the problem in vain.
“The cough persisted for 2 weeks before I took her to Kisii Level 5 then, now Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital. She strained in breathing which made her admitted for 2 weeks in the ICU where she recuperated shortly but later the situation got worse. She was referred to Tenwek Mission Hospital in 2012 where Biopsy was done without any clear results,” Ontita said.
She added, “She was referred to Kenyatta National Hospital where a series of scanning and Biopsy were redone for cancer and TB and both indicated negative despite protrusion seen in her tracheal system. She undertook a fourth successful Biopsy, which was conducted by Prof. Macharia of Kenyatta University and the results indicated negative of all tests done.”
She notes that as for now, it is either life or death for her daughter after a long battle with the anonymous predicament, as they are peasant farmers, and therefore raising the huge sum of money required is not possible.
“We now only depend on the leaders to intervene and salvage the situation,” she said.