MYSTORY: Alcohol ruined my chance at stardom

Waihiga Mutero tried to commit suicide twice in a span of 38 days, at the end of 2015. PHOTO| THOMAS RAJULA

What you need to know:

  • On her mother’s suggestion – and after being inspired by another blogger – Waihiga set up a blog of her own to chronicle her troubles and inspire other addicts to change.
  • She also numbed herself to those who might laugh or point fingers at her situation.
  • Now the marketing liaison for a travel agency, where she works at no pay to keep herself busy, Waihiga is focused on getting her life back on track.
  • It’s been hard to get back to her first love, acting.

Waihiga Mutero tried to commit suicide twice in a span of 38 days, at the end of 2015. She had been thinking of doing it for a long time.

At the relatively tender age of 23, the professional actress had fallen out with producers and was no longer getting any jobs. She had dropped out of university – with only four semesters left. She was estranged from her family. Her relationships had not worked out. She was convinced that the only thing she was good at was drinking – and it was her alcoholism that brought her to this point.

Nine months later, she blogs about her battle with alcoholism, and gives talks to young people on the subject of alcohol abuse. It’s been a long journey that’s far from over – she still has to get her acting career on track – but she is healthy, confident and optimistic now.

Waihiga had her first drink at a house party at the age of 14. When she was 15 she once drank so much at another party, so much so that she vomited and passed out. She vowed never to touch alcohol again… but started clubbing and drinking at 17.

LOVE FOR ACTING

At the same time, she discovered her love for acting while in school in South Africa where her family lived for nine years. “My love for acting started when I was 14; my drama teacher then, Ms Durr, had the class recite two lines from Tennessee Williams’ Glass Menagerie in a French accent to earn a seat in her class.” Waihiga did it so well that she was a shoo-in. She also discovered that drama was the first subject she could do effortlessly.

In 2011 and at age 18, Waihiga and family moved back to Kenya, and she joined a local university to pursue a degree in journalism. She also got a role in the popular MTV series Shuga 2. “It was one of the best productions I’ve worked on; so professional,” she says. Her university life was also going well. She was living on her own at an off-campus hostel. Her grades were good. Her lecturers liked her and believed she would make an amazing news anchor.

It started to fall apart halfway through her second year, when Waihiga’s drinking really picked up. She and her friends would drink on Thursday, nurse their hangovers on Friday and head home for the weekend on Saturday. “The alcohol made me feel good and it was affordable,” she says. “I was kicked out of hostels around the university twice because of really wild partying. I would arrive at school at 7.30am while my class started at 3pm.” What would she do to kill the time between 8am and 3pm? “I chose drinking every the time,” she says.

With the fame came relationships… and heartbreak. Every time some guy broke her heart, Waihiga drank to ease the pain. As her dependency developed, her school work nose-dived. She reeked of alcohol in class. She got irritated when her lecturers let her know their concerns, and stopped attending classes altogether.

CAME CRASHING DOWN

It came crashing down in her third year. “I don’t know when I went from the classy chick who only drank expensive liquor to the chick drinking ‘Naps’ (cheap brandy) in the ditch. It tasted of petrol because the vendor was mixing it with some funny stuff.” However, it was affordable and accessible as early as 7am. Her parents took her to a rehabilitation centre.

“Rehab works for people who want it,” she says, and Waihiga didn’t. Besides hating the entire four-month-and-two-week experience, she came out much worse than she had been before she went in. That was in July, 2015. A relapse followed. “My parents told me if I was to live with them, I had to follow their rules. I chose liquor and left.”

On November 23, she had her first suicide attempt, swallowing a clasp of prescription pills. She was unconscious for 36 hours, with a body temperature of 39 degrees, at the high dependency unit of Aga Khan Hospital, but she was revived. On New Year’s Eve, she decided to make a more successful attempt.

“I felt myself slowly dying, like a weight was sitting on my chest. Finally, I said in my heart, “If you, God, are really there, you’re going to save me from this crap. I can’t live like this. If not, then at least let me sleep as I go.”’

She started breathing. A few days later, her family took her to a Christian rehabilitation centre. Despite initial resistance to the programme, she literally let go and let God. She left the year-long programme three months in, and her parents took her back into their home.

On her mother’s suggestion – and after being inspired by another blogger – Waihiga set up a blog of her own to chronicle her troubles and inspire other addicts to change. She also numbed herself to those who might laugh or point fingers at her situation.

Now the marketing liaison for a travel agency, where she works at no pay to keep herself busy, Waihiga is focused on getting her life back on track. It’s been hard to get back to her first love, acting. She still gets doors shut on her. Though it upsets her, she consoles herself that it’s not yet God’s time. She is also planning to go back to university to complete her degree.