By Philip Kemboi.
It has been four years and eight months since Haron Mosoi was involved in an accident while driving a Tuktuk.
He woke up early to embark on his daily routine of supplying sodas using his Tuktuk but as fate would have it, he encountered a tragic accident that drastically changed his life.
He was driving along Lenana road while heading towards the Olekasasi, Masai lodge area in Rongai when the Tuktuk lost its breaks and hit a tree by the roadside.
He walked out of Tuktuk, his body feeling sore but dismissed the injuries as a minor that did not require immediate medical attention and after salvaging the vehicle and sodas headed home.
“I had some minor injuries but could not feel any serious pain at that moment until the next morning when I discovered that my legs were numb and weak,” explains Mosoi.
He was then rushed to a local clinic at Kware area in Rongai town, where medical staff prescribed that he gets four intravenous injections daily which he did.
His health however kept deteriorating because after three days he could not walk without support.
The situation worsened on the fourth day because he could now not walk at all even with support and was thereafter referred to the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH).
After going through a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan it was discovered that he had suffered a spinal injury in between the shoulders.
He was thereafter admitted at KNH where two surgeries were carried out on his spine and later on regained some nerves in his legs before he was released from hospital.
But he got weaker in 2017 and was taken back to KNH for another MRI scan which revealed he was also suffering from spine tuberculosis.
He healed after getting treatment and taking medication for one year but again failed to regain he use of his legs, confining him to a wheelchair.
While on the wheel chair, Mr. Mosoi was again diagnosed with a number of spine related diseases as life became more complicated due to the stress he going through.
As he was adjusting to the new life on a wheel chair, more complications emerged when he was rushed to KNH where he was diagnosed with diabetes due to depression.
He went into a comma on arrival at KNH where he was admitted in to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for 17 days.
With all those complication, anxiety gripped his family because Mosoi’swife and children didn’t have any other source of income and he was the sole provider.
After spending 17 days in a comma, he got better and was taken to the High Dependency Unit (HDU) from he continued receiving medicine to handle depression.
“Due to much stress and fear for my family and being in that situation, the condition got worse again and so I was admitted back at the ICU for six days while in a comma,” says Mosoi
Times were hard, life was difficult and he was almost losing hope in life because within a span of one month he was again referred back to the ICU where he again went into another comma for two days from what doctors said was depression.
They counselled him to avoid being stressful since it would be dangerous for his life, an advise he took seriously, accepted his condition and developed happiness within himself and for family .
Since then he has never gone back to the ICU but the biggest challenge now is raising money for medication which is very expensive.
He has requested for assistance from well-wishers and politicians with little success and has again urged those in position to help people with health challenges.
Because of the financial and social challenges he also approached health institutions for help in his quest to walk again but has not yet received much support.
His advised to people who are going through similar situations, is that they should be strong and that the only way of dealing with the situation is to first accept it.
They should have a positive mind, engage friends, relatives and and also believe in GOD.
He says politicians at national and County levels should play a bigger role in providing health care and fulfilling their promises.