How act of kindness saved Margaret Apoya's life

Hers was a joyous case of medicine triumphing over affliction.

And it was made the sweeter by the fact that Kenyans in their thousands had rallied to her aid after tear-jerking images and the story behind her illness was carried in the local media.

GIANT GROWTH

For before the surgery that successfully got rid of her afflicted breasts, Margaret Apoya was a heart-rending sight.

Her pair of breasts sagged almost to her knees, weighed down by giant growths that cumulatively weighed 32kg.

With such a weight, she was a virtual invalid. She hardly stood, making domestic chores or engaging in any economic activity difficult for her.

The result was biting poverty that not even the effort of her peasant husband could help mitigate. Matters were made worse by the overwhelming stigma among her fellow villagers at Mwer in Alego Usonga constituency, Siaya County.

For the locals, unschooled in matters medical, Apoya’s case was pure witchcraft.

Apoya resigned to her fate after all interventions, modern and traditional, failed. In her own words, she confessed she was just waiting to die.

Until her plight reached the ears of Fr Clement Oluoch, the parish priest at St Lawrence Uradi Catholic Mission.

It was Fr Clement’s intervention that triggered a chain of events, culminating in a five-hour surgery at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret that removed the giant growths.

NORMAL LIFE

Weeks earlier, Kenyans, moved by the plight of the hapless, poor woman, managed to raise Sh400,000 for the surgery.

The surgeons then reconstructed her breast back to normalcy, taking a huge burden off her chest and mind and allowing her to lead a normal life.

That was way back in April 2001 and a beaming Apoya walked back home after the surgery to celebrations from awed villagers.

Last weekend, another round of celebrations rocked the sleepy village, as Apoya hosted a group of people she described as close to her heart and who helped her get her life back on track.

Her guests were Dr Philip Parklea, the surgeon who led the team that operated on her, Purity Kabii, the nurse who took care of her before, during and after the surgery, and Fr Clement.

Dr Parklea was then Chief Specialist Surgeon at the hospital. He conducted the procedure alongside two other surgeons, Dr Kuremu Tenge and Dr Ashraf Emara.

“This is a thanksgiving to God for what happened to me. I wanted the doctor to see that I’m doing very well,” Apoya, told the Nation at her home as she served guests and villagers with food.

Dr Parklea, now in private practice, still recalls the case as if it happened just the other day.

QUALITY SERVICES

“It was a very sad case. I remember reading about it when it was highlighted in the media. People said it was witchcraft,” he said.

Over a month ago, Apoya sent word to him, inviting him and the rest of the team that handled her case to her home for a thanksgiving ceremony.

“I was very touched by that and there was no way we could let her down,” said the doctor, who then made the long journey to Siaya on Saturday, alongside his wife, and Ms Kabii and her husband.

Fr Clement said the Apoya case was heart-rending and he could not just sit back and watch.

The case proved to be a blessing in disguise for the villagers, who lacked access to good medical services. “It enabled the Uradi Catholic Church to push for the establishment of a hospital at the mission. This came to pass,” said Fr Clement who is currently the chaplain at St Mary’s School, Yala.

Ms Kabii says the Apoya case is good testimony that Kenyans can get high quality services here at home, without making the costly trips abroad.