Student scored B (plain) in KCSE exams despite loss of hand and breathing through a pipe

Rajab Weini (left) father to Ali Weini (right) points at a pipe that his son use to breath from. Rajab is appealing to these who can assist him Sh 5 million for the son to go for surgery in India to replace his voice box and jaws. The boy scored B plain in 2017 KCSE exams and would like to go back to pursue his pharmaceutical dreams in the university. [PHOTO: DUNCAN OCHOLLA/STANDARD]

Life has never been the same again for Ali Weimi, 22, after a near-death experience that saw him undergo 10 surgeries.

The accident that changed Ali’s life happened on November 16, 2013, when an improvised cane milling machine, powered by a posho mill engine, almost killed him at their home in Mwilunya village, Matawa, in Mumias West.

The machine caught his shirt and pulled him into the sharp edges of the running crusher, where sugarcane juice is produced.

His father rescued him, but the damage had been done. Ali’s left jaw had been chopped off and his mouth split into two. 

Today, he breathes through a pipe, a process known in medical circles as tracheotomy. Tracheotomy involves the incision into the windpipe and a pipe connected to it. He cannot breathe normally using his nose. Ali’s throat and voice box were also damaged.

In the first 18 months after the accident, Ali was fed milk, porridge and water using a gastronomy tube. The tube is normally inserted through the abdomen to deliver food directly to the stomach. He has since expanded his menu to include rice and eggs.

Despite his condition, Ali still completed his secondary education. He sat the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations last year. It took him six, instead of four years, to complete secondary school, as he was always in and out of hospital. Ali shocked many when he scored a B plain (61 points) despite his struggles.

Ali’s dream is to be a pharmacist. He hopes he will still be admitted to university with his grade despite the fact that one must have scored an A of at least 80 points in KCSE to study pharmacy.

“I want to study pharmacy so I can take care of myself, given I have a condition that requires close supervision. This will also put me near medics who will assist me in case of any emergencies,” Ali told The Standard by writing on a piece of paper; he cannot speak.

John Mukuti, the principal at St Michael’s Ingusi Mixed Boarding and Day Secondary School, where Ali sat the national examinations, said the boy could have scored an A plain were it not for the accident.

“He was in and out of school, as his condition needed close supervision. And as his teachers, we also committed ourselves to helping him cover the syllabus. Fellow students also wrote notes for him,” said Mr Mukuti.

He said when they were registering candidates for KCSE, they asked Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec) for a teacher to guide Ali during practical examinations.

“He could not handle laboratory apparatus well and hence the need for assistance. We are grateful Knec gave us someone who assisted in handling the apparatus,” Mukuti said.

He referred to Ali as a great motivation to his colleagues. He is among the 24 students from the school who qualified to join university on direct entry basis, out of a class of 141 candidates.

His father, Rajab Weimi, 44, said the life of his second born had not been the same since the accident.

The father of 11 said his son was putting more cane into the mill when the accident happened. “The machine literally started crushing him,” he said.

“I managed to pull him out of the machine but he had already been badly injured. He was bleeding profusely. We took him to St Mary’s Hospital Mumias before he was referred to Moi and Teaching Referral Hospital (MTRH) in Eldoret),” he said.

Ali was immediately admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). “They wanted to airlift him to Kenyatta National Hospital but one of the doctors said he be operated immediately as he could have died before reaching Nairobi,” said Mr Rajab.

Voice box

Rajab is appealing for help to raise Sh5 million so Ali can to go for surgery in India to restore his voice box and the jaw.

He has spent Sh3 million on his son’s treatment and care. Rajab sold property, including land, to raise the money after exhausting his savings.

He said he was excited when doctors in Eldoret told him his son was still alive after more than 12 hours in theatre. “He underwent skin grafting to fill the hole in the left jaw. He was taken back to the ICU after the operation and after one week, he was transferred to the High Dependency Unit,” said Rajab.

Henry Ngoitsi, an Otolaryngologist at MTRH, said: “I am in the team that has been attending to the young man and I am happy he survived.” Otolaryngologists treat ear, nose, throat disorders.

Dr Ngoitsi says Ali needs plastic surgery to restore his speech, breathing and his jaw.