What started as a backache has turned into a nightmare for a family

Caroline Wawira who has a hole in her heart at their home in Gichiche village of Runyenjes constituency, Embu County. (Joseph Muchiri, Standard) [Photo by Kamau Maichuhie/Standard]

It has been 13 years of pain and suffering for Caroline Wawira.

The last born in a family of six, Wawira's woes started in 2004, when she suddenly fell ill.

For 10 years she was in and out of various hospitals until her condition was diagnosed in 2014.

Doctors told her something that still haunts her: that she had a hole in her heart.

According to the doctors, her condition could not be handled by any hospital in the country.

They told her that her only hope lay in India, where heart specialists could save her life with an operation that would cost Sh2 million.

That was three years ago. She still has a hole in her heart and her life is rapidly sliding down hill.

While her peers are now in college pursuing their career dreams, Wawira, 20, dropped out of school in Class Seven and spends days at home, clinging to hope that one day a miracle will happen and Sh2 million will be available to have her heart fixed in India.

Her parents are casual farm labourers at Gichiche village in Embu East sub-county. When they are lucky to land a job, the pay is barely enough to provide for the family’s basic needs, leave alone Wawira’s clinic costs.

Caroline with her mother Niceta Ciumwari at home in Gichiche village of Runyenjes constituency, Embu County. (Photo by Joseph Muchiri/Standard)

According to her mother, Niceta Ciumwari, Wawira had a healthy childhood until she turned eight. Then she started complaining of persistent back pain.

Then the endless journeys to dispensaries started, culminating in surgery at Kijabe Mission Hospital.

However, after she was discharged, her condition showed no improvement and the trips to hospitals began all over again. The family has been to Kenyatta National Hospital and Mater Hospital, where even after a series of treatments, Wawira's health did not get better.

During one of the clinical visits to Embu Teaching and Referral Hospital, Ciumwari was lucky to meet a visiting heart specialist who diagnosed her daughter's condition and estimated how much it would cost to treat it.

Her heart sank.

“They said her heart has hole and that she needs Sh2 million to be treated in India. Where can I get that kind of money?” Ciumwari asks in tears.

Wawira’s uncle, Gabriel Karanja, said the family has depleted its property on treatment and clinic visits and has been trying to raise funds for the treatment abroad.

For all their struggles, they only managed to raise a paltry Sh15, 000, which was quickly depleted by treatment in local clinics.

Unless a miracle happens, Wawira might never achieve her dream of becoming a doctor. Instead, she will join the sad statistics of children forced out of school by medical conditions that their parents cannot afford treatment for.

“I long to regain my health and resume school," she says.

The family has opened an account for well-wishers at Equity Bank - Embu branch, Account Number 0190173652665, account name Caroline Wawira Nyaga.

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