Despite battle with cancer, girl excels in KCSE, hopes to become a doctor

She spent months out of school battling cancer, developed a terrible fever when sitting the last KCSE paper but when the results were released on Thursday, she had scored A- of 76 points.

Sheila Jeruto says she has seen the hand of God in the results, adding that given the time she spent outside the classroom, the achievement was by no means ordinary.

In 2012, while in Form One at St Brigid’s Kiminini, Kitale, she was diagnosed with nasopharyngeal carcinoma, a rare type of head and neck cancer.

Jeruto, who scored 395 marks in KCPE examination, says the diagnosis did not kill her dream of becoming a doctor.

When we caught up with her on Friday at their home in Kimumu, in the outskirts of Eldoret, she was reading a novel.

“It started with a hard lump on the right side of the neck and frequent severe headaches accompanied by nose bleeding,” says Jeruto.

She says she had to stay out of school for one year while undergoing chemotherapy at the Aga Khan University Hospital.

“She went through 35 sessions which is the maximum number a cancer patient undergoes. But even when on the hospital bed, she was still determined to resume her studies,” says her father David Cheruiyot, who works with the Kenya Pipeline Company.

He says the experience traumatised their family.

“Her mother developed a mild stroke and was admitted for four days but fortunately she recovered,” says the father of five, who says that out of desperation, he even took his daughter to traditional herbalists in West Pokot County.

“At that time, there were a lot of myths. We had to consult our parents and members of the family who advised us to take her to herbalists. They just gave her dust and leaves — the situation got worse,” he recalls.

HAD NECK CANCER

With her health worsening, they decided to take her to hospital.

“She was screened at Eldoret hospital where we discovered that she had neck cancer,” he says.

She stayed in the intensive care unit for 11 days until the situation stabilised and was taken to Aga Khan in Nairobi.

After the sessions, the doctors advised the parents to transfer the girl to a school closer home.
“After she was discharged, we took her to a day school about three kilometres from our home,” he says.

Did she expect the sterling results she posted in her examination?

“Absolutely no. I was so anxious, considering the tough marking rules, I expected a C+ but I’m so happy I thank God,” Jeruto says.

In her last paper – physics – she developed high fever and had to be taken to hospital in her uniform. Amazingly, she scored an A in that subject.
She credits her success to the support of her family, classmates and church members.

“Though I missed many classes, I was able to catch up through classmates who really supported me,” says Jeruto.

“I want to be a doctor because in the one year I spent in hospital, I could feel and see the suffering that cancer patients go through. It is really traumatising, you feel like you want to die but my doctors kept encouraging me. ... I want to really thank them,” she says.

To those who find themselves in a similar situation, “No one should ever give up. It requires a lot of positive energy. It is not the end of the world. When you give up, your world will crumble,” she said.

Despite the situation, she was elected to serve as head girl in 2016.