Man spends days atop rock to raise awareness of rare disease

Brian Kiptoo spends his sixth day atop a rock in Siriat-Chepkemel, Uasin Gishu, raising awareness and funds for his mother, August 21, 2026. [Peter Ochieng, Standard]

From a distance, the Kenyan flag fluttering relentlessly atop a huge rock deep inside a forest in Siriat village, Chepkemel, Uasin Gishu County, is hard to miss.

But make no mistake. There is no State function or government office in the thicket to warrant the hoisting of the national flag at such an unlikely location. The rock can only be reached through a narrow, tangled footpath snaking through the forest.

Beside the flag sits 32-year-old Brian Kiptoo Kositany, who has endured freezing nights and blisteringly hot days on the rock since 11 am on Saturday, August 15.

Villagers watch as 32-year-old Brian Kiptoo spends his sixth day atop a rock in Siriat-Chepkemel, Uasin Gishu, raising awareness and funds for his mother, August 21, 2026. [Peter Ochieng, Standard]

Kiptoo is on a deeply personal mission to create awareness about motor neurone disease (MND), a rare condition that has left his 54-year-old mother, Anne Sitienei, bedridden since early 2021.

He has turned the imposing rock into his unlikely platform, hoping that his extraordinary endurance will draw attention to the plight of families living with the debilitating condition.

By Thursday, Kiptoo had spent at least 120 hours perched on the rock, surviving on nothing but water since Saturday.

During the day, the rock becomes unbearably hot under the sun. At night, it turns bitterly cold. Yet Kiptoo remains determined to stay put until his message reaches Kenyans.

“I choose to create awareness while planning to establish a foundation in honour of my mother's struggles. My mother went to school with prominent individuals in government and, through staying on top of this rock, I wish to let them know that their classmate is battling a rare condition,” he said.

Kiptoo says his mother lived a healthy life until 2021, when she suddenly fell ill and gradually lost her ability to walk and speak properly.

“My mother suddenly fell ill, became disabled and life has never been easy. Life has never been easy for me. I have surmounted many challenges in helping my mother manage the condition,” he said.

The experience, he says, has forced him to shoulder the responsibility of caring for his mother while searching for ways to give other families battling MND a voice.

He now hopes to establish the Kositany Foundation to support bedridden patients and their families.

According to Kiptoo, many people living with the condition struggle without basic equipment that could make their lives easier, including movable wheelchairs.

“My mother inherited a non-movable wheelchair from a neighbour, John Mutai, who died months after she fell sick. Before then, she spent long hours in bed. If I succeed in establishing the Kositany Foundation, the mission would be to help her,” he said.

Doctors, Kiptoo says, told the family that his mother’s condition could not be cured, but its effects could be managed.

He says this has strengthened his resolve rather than broken his spirit.

Kiptoo has vowed not to come down from the rock until he creates sufficient awareness and garners support to establish an organisation that will give hope to families caring for people living with MND.

He estimates that caring for his mother costs him nearly Sh30,000 every month.

His mother, who struggles to communicate, made an emotional appeal to well-wishers to support her son in his unusual campaign.

“I can’t walk and speak because of the condition. I wish that my son gets the support he is seeking through his mission,” she said on Thursday.

The sight of Kiptoo perched on the rock has since attracted hundreds of residents, who milled around the forest to stand in solidarity with him.

Among them was Joyce Chepkemoi, a Chepkemel resident and neighbour, who said Kiptoo’s struggle was about more than his mother.

Chepkemoi said Kiptoo has often turned to friends and well-wishers for help as he struggles to meet the demands of caring for his mother.

“He is struggling to manage the condition and often seeks help from friends and well-wishers,” she said.

Elder William Bii urged well-wishers to support Kiptoo’s initiative and, if possible, offer him employment to enable him to care for his mother and other people facing similar challenges.

“We gathered around the rock to request him to come down but, unfortunately, we can’t give the support he is pushing for. We can’t help create awareness,” Bii said.

Kiptoo, an unemployed electrical technician, says his unusual protest is not driven by a desire for sympathy but by a determination to make the struggles of people living with MND impossible to ignore.

For him, the lonely rock in the forest has become a pulpit, the Kenyan flag - a symbol of hope, and every passing hour a reminder of his mother’s five-year battle with a rare condition.

According to health reports, motor neurone disease is a group of conditions that affect the nerves responsible for movement, swallowing, speaking and breathing. Symptoms can begin with mild weakness and gradually worsen, spreading to other parts of the body and potentially causing paralysis and breathing difficulties.

There is currently no cure for MND, with treatment focusing mainly on managing symptoms and improving the quality of life of those affected.

For Kiptoo, however, the fight goes beyond treatment.

It is about ensuring that his mother and families like hers are seen, heard and remembered.

And so, high above the forest floor, the Kenyan flag continues to flap in the wind as Kiptoo keeps his lonely vigil on the rock, waiting for someone to listen.