The picture above was taken when I made my visit to diabetes patients in Tabaka hospital. From left is me, Mary Anyango (amputated on the right leg), Peter (Mary’s husband), and Lillian (Mary’s daughter).

I have made visits to various patients suffering from cancer and diabetes in order hearten them and find out what it means like living with cancer and diabetes. However, one of the visits that really caught my attention was my 2 nd  March visit to a patient suffering from diabetes in Tabaka Hospital. Mary Anyango was admitted in Tabaka hospital almost one year ago after diabetes was identified in her body. Before coming to hospital Mary underwent several challenges in life. Mary reveals that diabetes was detected in her body in 2009. By 2012 it had affected her leg to an extent that it was stinking. Friends and relatives had run away from her. The only people who persevered the odor from her leg were her daughter Lillian and her husband Peter.

“My leg was rotten; nobody wanted to associate with me because of its smell. Life for me was not the same again. I prayed to God every minute of the day to forgive me if I had sinned. ”

While in Tabaka hospital she was told that in order to cure the disease she had to undergo amputation which she admitted. December 2012, she underwent amputation below the knee at a price of ksh 15,000. After sometimes, Mary received recommendations from the nurse in charge of her treatment that the amputation was not done appropriately and therefore she had to go through another amputation.    The amputation had to further extend to the thighs and it would cost her ksh. 10,000.

“The wound was painful, I could not sleep, I lost a lot of blood, and my life was at risk. I was forced to purchase blood at a cost of Ksh. 3,000 because there was no friend who was ready to donate blood to me” said Mary    “I learnt that every person must face her night in life; it was a time when things seemed not to be working out well on my side. A time when my closest friends, family members and relatives did not want to associate with me, a  moment of solitude. It was the most terrible moment in my life.”

“I almost despaired in life; I felt that life had no meaning to me anymore. There were two forces in my heart, one telling me to commit suicide and the other telling me to have hope in life.”

“One morning I woke up, sat on my bed, and prayed for almost 3 hours. As I prayed, tears rolled down my cheeks, tears of hope, hope of living longer in life. I changed my perception towards my disability. It came into my mind that one does not become a lesser human being when she is faced with a disability.”

“I thank God for granting me this life that I live. Even though my closest friends and relatives whom we used to dine together have run away from me, I am determined to live a happy life because I admire myself. Even with one leg, I am certain that within myself is hidden a bright future.”

Despite being financially unstable and sick, the smile on her face indicates that Mary Anyango is a happy woman. She loves her husband and daughter for being there with her even during the hardest times.

“Thank you for visiting me may God bless you my son” was the last word that Mary uttered before I left her.