My spiritual awakening

Caroline Achieng, 7 years breast cancer survivor

I was only 24 years old when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. One day, I noticed a bloody discharge from my breast. While on a trip to visit my uncle in Austria I had a medical check-up, and the doctors dropped the bombshell. They told me that I had to go through a mastectomy and have my whole breast cut out and go through hormonal therapy thereafter.

Strangely, I remained calm through the surgery, which lasted hours. I had read anything I could get my hands on concerning breast cancer and therefore I was informed on the whole process. I remained calm until the D-day came, when I had to remove the bandage where my breast had been cut off. I remember breaking down in tears, wondering how my life would go on after that.

Prior to the diagnosis, I was never that serious in life. I was not so ambitious and excited about life as I am today.

I joined cancer support groups and educated older and younger women on breast cancer, encouraging them to live life beyond their pain.

During my sickness, I talked a lot with my aunt, who I must say was very patient with me. Talking was indeed one of the best therapies I ever tried, because it lightened my burden.

I became a health fanatic, as I now jog and exercise regularly, to keep my body fit. We have only one life, one body and we have to take them very seriously.

Before my sickness, my self-esteem was low. Now, I am rocking up there, and I don’t let the fact that I have only one breast stand in the way of my joy. I am at peace with myself and what I went through. Sometimes I joke about the whole situation with my friends and siblings, because I have learnt to find joy in the midst of pain.

I keep telling younger girls with breast cancer that they will go through it like me, and get married, have kids and enjoy highflying careers. To me, breast cancer was not a misfortune — it was my ticket to the next level of my life!

Bright Oywaya, road accident survivor

When I woke up on the morning of 18th October, 1997 for a trip to the Coast, I had no idea that by the end of that day, I would become a road accident statistic.

I still recall the screeching of brakes and the loud bang, followed by the screams and eventually the darkness that engulfed me when we had a head-on collision.

The trip to the Coast with my friends was cut short by an accident that would not only confine me to a wheelchair for the rest of my life, but change the course of my life.

I was badly injured in that accident. In fact, of all the people in that accident, I was the most injured, having injured my spine and abdomen so badly that my intestines were cut into pieces.

At first, I was in denial, total and complete denial, and I never let it sink in that I was badly injured.

I still recall what the doctor looked like when he told me that I would never walk again. I was introduced to a world I never thought I would be part of — that of disability, stigma and difficulty. My spiritual foundations were shaken to the core, and I had to rebuild them slowly but surely. My priorities changed, and I had to form a ‘new normal’.

Then, my spiritual awakening came. I was suddenly at peace with myself and accepted myself as I was. After the accident, I quit my job as a banker to do counselling psychology, because I know I was called to touch the lives of others.

Now, having lived both lives. I love this one even more. In this newfound life, there are no pretences or camouflage — just the reality. I look back at my old life and ask myself "What was that?" due to its superficial and fake nature. The crash grounded me. Now, I invest more in other people’s lives.