TALES OF COURAGE: What my battle with kidney failure has taught me - VIDEO

They say life begins at 40 but for Philip Ogola, who is better known as Digital Humanitarian, he had just celebrated his fortieth birthday in May when he was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness.

He has been credited for his work in the digital space which he uses to revolutionalise the use of social media in emergency response and in humanitarian sector in Kenya.

“It all started with a simple flu and sore throat which I obviously ignored being the man that I was. I self-medicated with painkillers and over the counter medication hoping it would go away. I however began worrying when my voice and eye sight started getting affected. I finally went to hospital for a check-up but the doctor could not detect anything amiss at the time and suggested it might be fatigue,” he recaps.

Through the months of May and June 2017, Philip underwent a series of misdiagnoses until an incident in Kisumu where he had travelled for work occurred.

“I noticed that my urine was orange and then later on I collapsed and had to be rushed to the hospital in an ambulance. That’s when the doctors realised that my kidneys were inflamed and would therefore not perform their duty of filtering.”

NEEDED CLEARENCE TO FLY

The severity of his condition now started sinking in when he was flying back to Nairobi and he was denied permission to fly.

He already had a catheter on him and so the flight management felt it was necessary that he had clearance from the doctor or was accompanied by the doctor on the flight.

Before venturing into consultancy through his company, Time Out Media Limited, Philip Ogola was the Social Media Head at the Kenya RedCross Society and the brainchild behind the #iVolunteer campaign.

Through the Campaign Kenya RedCross can now respond to disasters real time after getting alerts via Twitter or Facebook.

It is during his time there that Kenya Red Cross won BAKE Awards, Best Tweep Corporate for best use of social media.

Before that, Philip Worked at Gina Din Corporate Communications as a Social Media Consultant where he spearheaded the formation of a fully-fledged Social Media Department.

“There’s so much we can do with the digital space. For me, I chose to champion for good issues and ethical practices online. I chose to save a life through social media.”

“It's unfortunate that the youth in the country are so tech savvy yet cyber foolish and the footprints they leave now on social media will come back to haunt them.”

‘NOT AN INFLUENCER’

In the age of social media where well over 10,000 followers automatically makes you an instant influencer, Philip with over 47,000 followers on Twitter refuses to identify as one.

“I chose to be a trendsetter rather than an influencer. I feel we have a long way to go in how we behave on social media and there still remains too much untapped potential in social media. For instance, Kenyans are a peculiar people who will get to a scene of an accident and take photos first to post on social media without contemplating the impact the photos might have on the families of the affected.”

Philip says this out of experience having covered the Westgate attack in Nairobi’s Westlands.

He was among the first responders on sight and through tactical communication and use of social media, him and his team were able to evacuate to safety a majority of the survivors.

The incident however left him traumatised and was unable to continue working at the Kenya Redcross Society.

OVERWHELMING EXPERIENCE

But in a twist of fate, the very survivors that Philip responded to during the Westgate attack and many other disasters in his line of work, are now revealing themselves in his time of need to offer financial support as he appeals for funds for specialised treatment in India.

“This whole experience has overwhelmed me. Due to the nature of my treatment locally and initial misdiagnosis, I maxed out on my insurance cover.

My savings also got depleted very fast and unbeknownst to me; my friends with the help of my wife went out of their way to find me specialised treatment in India complete with a medical fundraiser. I didn’t know they were up to something until I saw the poster,” Philip says amid tears.

Philip has been diagnosed with acute nephritis which is often caused by infections, and toxins, but is most commonly caused by autoimmune disorders that affect the major organs like kidneys.

Pyelonephritis is inflammation that results from a urinary tract infection that reaches the renal pelvis of the kidney. He experiences constant headaches and starting to experience memory loss.

LOST FRIENDS

“Along the way, I’ve lost friends who I thought would stand by me through it all, but I have also gained new ones. Two women walked up to me in town and said they were ready to donate to me their kidneys if I needed them. That really moved me.”

The digital man credits all this to the digital space urging others with the same condition to share their stories online.

His wife Christine Wavinya and two sons have been his pillars of strength. His five year old recently rallied his friends to come wish him well while he was relaxing in the house.

His neighbours too have put up posters of his medical appeal around his block.

FEELS INDEBTED

“I feel indebted to them, some we’ve never interacted and some barley know what I do but are willing to help. The other lot is the guys on social media who I see sharing their stories on how they either know me or on how we’ve interacted before and it just makes me cry, really.”

Philip now believes that he is a living testimony to the Swahili saying ‘Tenda wema nenda zako’ ( Do good unto others and go your way without expecting as it has come back tenfold at the time of need.

By the time of the interview, the contributions were at Sh1.7 million.

By the time this article was ready for publishing, he had reached his target of Sh2million. He will be seeking specialised treatment in India mid-November.

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