'I have stayed with my husband through health... and sickness'

Cindy and Charles Sanga. Cindy has stood by her husband through health and prosperity… and through sickness and financial difficulty. PHOTO| COURTESY

What you need to know:

  • We have had to make a lot of adjustments to our lifestyle. We sold all our furniture, electronics and car to cater for his medication and house rent.
  • We moved out to a smaller house where we have been living since. Unfortunately, we did not have so many people we could lean on.
  • For a start, I was in my parents’ wrong books for marrying a man they did not approve of.
  • Charles’ siblings had also gone silent since they last saw him in the hospital bed. But we have no grudge.

“I was 18 years old when I met my husband in 2013. I had just completed high school a few months earlier and was looking to train as a flight attendant. Every day, I would skim through the newspapers looking for institutions that offered flight-related courses. Then one day, I saw an advert from Pegasus Flyers calling for applicants interested in piloting courses. I took down the number and called. ‘Hello, my name is Cinderella Injete, is that Pegasus Flyers?’ I asked. Then a husky voice returned, ‘Yes it is, and this is Charles Sanga; how may I help you?’ He gave me directions to the institution and I went to see him. He told me he was a pilot and a trainer, and offered to help me find an attachment and a job apart from the training.

“Along the way, we fell in love. Although at age 36 Charles was twice my age, I was not too perturbed by our age difference. What initially rattled me was the discovery that he had been married before and was a father of two. A long-term relationship would require me to be a step-mum, and I feared that I was too young to be one. But my affection for him overcame my fears. “He loved me. He was fun and chivalrous to be with. He pushed me to achieve my flying dream and soon, I acquired my flying license. I desired to be his wife and the mother of his child.

“In July 2014, we were blessed with a bouncing baby girl called Charlotte. A few months later in 2015, we moved in together as husband and wife. Charles agreed to bring his son to our home while his daughter remained with his ex-wife.“After getting married, I was afraid of revealing my marital status to my parents. I was not too sure how they would react. As it turned out, they did not take the news kindly. Their disappointment was that I had abandoned their quest for higher education and instead got hitched to man with whom we had significantly high age difference. I tried to win them over, but I have since realised that perhaps this is not a battle I can win. I decided to dedicate my energy to my husband and marriage instead.

“Life was blissful for us until sometime in 2015. At that time, my husband had opened an aviation company in Mombasa called Expedair. It was branching off as a part of Pegasus. Under the agreement, Charles was to take over its ownership once it broke even. We invested millions into it. Unfortunately, it collapsed, leaving my husband bankrupt. This came very hard on him.

“On the evening of September 8, 2016, he got a stroke while watching a movie with our son. There were no signs. He was a fit guy who went to the gym daily and with an active lifestyle. We rushed him to Mariakani Hospital which was closest to our home. It turned out that he had very high blood pressure. This, plus the stress of losing millions in his aviation business, were the main contributing factors to the stroke.

“He was admitted at the hospital for a week while the doctors monitored his hypertension. His entire left side was completely paralysed. His left eye had gone blind, and he had lost all speech and limb movement. He was discharged in a wheelchair, which he used for three months. We began physiotherapy sessions in the house the same week he was discharged from hospital. We were charged on an hourly basis for this.

OUT OF FUNDS

“Within a month, we were out of funds. We decided to carry out the physiotherapy sessions ourselves using YouTube videos. Gradually, we began to see positive results. Charles could sit upright with some help and within no time, he began to stand and sit without assistance. He is almost fully recovered now.

“During those tough days, many expected me to leave Charles. They thought that I had married him for the money but they were wrong. This was the time to woman up!

“We have had to make a lot of adjustments to our lifestyle. We sold all our furniture, electronics and car to cater for his medication and house rent. We moved out to a smaller house where we have been living since. Unfortunately, we did not have so many people we could lean on. For a start, I was in my parents’ wrong books for marrying a man they did not approve of. Charles’ siblings had also gone silent since they last saw him in the hospital bed. But we have no grudge. We have come to realise that stroke is a bogeyman equated with a death sentence at best or a lifelong disability from which there is no recovery.

“We come through very well by God’s grace, steadfast hope, and constant search for recovery resources and information from every available channel. Today, I am glad that he has almost fully recovered and we are trusting God, that even this, He shall heal him!

“I am our family’s sole bread winner. Since I cannot get piloting jobs with a single license, I now work as an arts consultant and tutor. I am glad that Charles has learned website designing and coding online to help supplement my income while he recovers at home. Above all, I pray to God that a couple struggling with stroke will get to read this, and know that it is not all doom and gloom. There can be light at the end of the tunnel if you hold on!”