GLANCE FACTS
Rising above the storm
• In 1988 when Dr David Sankok was in Class Six, he fell ill and was rushed to a private clinic.
• The doctor on duty examined him and then injected his nerve with some medicine that rendered his leg paralysed.
• It was not an easy transition from a once energetic boy to a dependent child who could not even play football with his friends.
• Despite his disability, he made a resolve not to pity himself but to make the best of what he had.
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| Dr. David Sankok, medical doctor [Photo: Standard] |
By Nikko Tanui
They say that when life gives you lemons, give it lemonade. This is exactly what Dr David Sankok did.
The life-changing incident happened in 1988 when he was in Class Six.
He had been taken ill and was rushed to hospital where a doctor made a wrong diagnosis, costing him his leg.
“I recall one night when I was in Class Six, I fell sick and was rushed to a local private clinic. The doctor examined me and injected my spine with some medicine. That’s how I ended up losing the use of my leg,” he recalls.
He was suffering from pneumonia but the doctor made a wrong diagnosis. It was not an easy transition from a once energetic boy to a dependent child who could not even play football with his friends.
Turning point
Challenging as it was, this was also a turning point for him.
“I could no longer play football with my friends but I resolved I would be a doctor when I grew up to understand what went wrong with my leg and to give my patients the proper care I never received,” Sankok says.
And Sankok has not stopped at that. He has established himself as a suave businessman, the chairman of Narok Central Business Association and a board member of National Council of Persons with Disabilities.
Despite his disability, he made a resolve not to pity himself but to make the best of what he had.
“From an early age I made up my mind to always look for other ways I could maximise on my potential since I did not want to spend the rest of my life feeling sorry for myself. Yes, I had only lost the ability to use my leg but I still had my brain and hands”, he says.
He also learned not to hold drudges. “I forgave the doctor responsible for my injury and accepted my condition. I now even see it as God’s plan because my condition propelled me to study Medicine. If it was not for this misfortune I could probably have dropped out of school to be a moran like many of my friends,” Sankok says.
