Ailing Form Four student appeals for help to raise Sh2.5m

Josephine Waithira

An ailing 18-year-old Form Four student who has temporarily dropped out of school due to failed kidneys is appealing to President Uhuru Kenyatta and other well-wishers to finance her dialysis and subsequent kidney transplant.

Josephine Waithira, a student at Ngangarithi Secondary School was this year diagnosed with End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD), a condition which occurs when kidneys are no longer able to support the needs of the body.

For the past one month, she has been undergoing dialysis at Kenyatta National Hospital, which costs of Sh10,000 per week. Her teachers and fellow students jointly contributed Sh45,000 to enable her get this treatment.

Before then, she was admitted at Nyeri County and Referral Hospital. She now needs to raise the Sh2.5 million needed to enable her have a transplant in India.

Although she has registered for KCSE, Waithira fears she might not live long enough to write her exams if she does not get the money as soon as possible.

Rough journey

"As we speak, my fellow candidates are doing their mock exams while I stay at home. I am afraid my dream of becoming an investigative journalist may never become a reality," she told this writer.

According to her mother Lucy Wangechi, who is also an Internally Displaced Person, the kidney problem started in 2009 after fleeing the Molo ethnic clashes.

Ms Wangechi says she was alarmed when the body of her daughter, the third born in a family of five siblings, began swelling.

Shortly thereafter, she took her to the then Nyeri Provincial General Hospital where they have been on regularly check-ups on the instructions of the doctor.

The mother who has no source of income says life has been extremely difficult since her daughter fell ill, and is now calling for help from well-wishers, including the President.