Stories of pain and resilience from road crash survivors

The seen and the unseen scars of more than 10,000 Kenyans who sustain serious injuries in road accidents every year are a testament to resilience and an enduring appreciation for life’s fragility. 

Those who are lucky to have survived now embrace each day as a gift. Recovery has become a poignant chapter in their story. Physical therapy sessions became a battleground against pain and financial constraints. 

Amidst the tribulations, each of the survivors who spoke to the Healthy Nation had unique stories of resilience and renewal. Some have found solace, inspiration and support in the disability groups that they have since joined, proving that even in the face of life-altering events, the human spirit can rise, is unbowed and unbroken. 

In the 2023 economic survey released in June, at least 4,690 people lost their lives on Kenyan roads in 2022. The year recorded 21,757 road accident casualties, representing a 5.5 per cent increase from the 20,625 deaths reported in 2021. The number of those who lost their lives in road crashes in 2021 was 4,579.

The number of victims who sustained serious injuries in 2022 was 9,935, a decrease from the 10,050 who were critically injured in 2021; with those who sustained slight injuries in 2022 rising by 1,136 to 7,132 from 5,996 reported in 2021. 
Here are the survivors’ stories:

Dorothy Akinyi, 22

Devastated and crippled by a near-fatal road accident in 2017, and with her academic dreams almost shattered, Dorothy, is an epitome of hope and resilience.

The 22-year-old was forced to defer her high school studies at Tombe Girls for five years as she fought to save her life following the road crash that left her right lower limb broken.

This year in January, she went back to school and she’s now in Form Three at Nyaikuro Secondary in Nyamira County. Despite being put in the category of people living with disabilities, she is determined to become a nurse, a dream she has had since childhood. 

Dorothy was 15 when the accident happened. A Toyota Probox hit her from behind after the driver lost its control following a brake failure. She was standing at a bus stop while waiting for transport back to school after the August holidays. 

She recalls that the vehicle hit and tossed her in the air before she landed with her head first in a ditch at Omogonchoro area along the Kisii-Nyamira road. The vehicle ran over her legs, crashing them.

Records from Christamarianne Mission Hospital in Kisii, where she was admitted, showed that she had an open right femur shaft fracture and thus she cannot bear the weight on the right lower limb.

She has gone through the theatre 18 times to try and fix her leg and has visited more than 10 hospitals in the country, where orthopaedic surgeons have done everything possible to restore her leg.

She says schooling is not easy either, but the school fraternity has made life easy for her. Her class and cube were moved to the ground floor to make it accessible. She goes to special latrines, which are disability-friendly.

Dorothy, however, says it is not all rosy and that great sacrifice and determination pushes her to study. She adds that catching up on her studies was not easy given that she had lost her memory.

“I do my morning preps in my bed because I cannot get out early due to the cold. Apart from the disability-friendly latrine, I have a chair to support me when showering.

Last term her crutches broke down, making her fall and break her hand. “But luckily, I have recovered,” says Dorothy.

Mary Aoko, 50

June 19, 2022, is a day Mary Aoko will live to remember.

A constantly aching back, a right leg that frequently suffers from paralysis and three metallic implants around the hip bone and back are a constant reminder of last year’s accident.

The mother of seven who hails from Kopere, Muhoroni Sub-County, had just left a nearby shopping centre. A speeding motorcycle hit her, leaving her unconscious on the road.

She was first rushed to a nearby private facility, which could not handle her case, then to Nandi Hills County Hospital, where she was referred to Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital.

“I developed serious back pain, which has persisted up to date. I cannot move my leg, which has been paralysed,” says Mary, who is happy to be alive to tell her story.

She stayed at the hospital for 18 days before being discharged. The doctors advised her to report to the hospital for monthly check-ups.

However, Mary only managed to attend the clinics in August and September. Eleven months later, she is yet to continue with the clinics while the pain won’t go away.

Mary explains that since she can no longer do her menial jobs, she has not been able to raise funds for the clinics.

Working on her neighbour’s farms is a challenge due to the time-to-time paralysis on her leg. Her back, she says, cannot allow her to undertake such heavy duties.

“I don’t know why this still happens, could it be because of the metallic implants which are yet to be removed from my body due to lack of funds?” She poses.

Mary says  her greatest fear now is the random paralysis resulting in a serious health risk.She often takes painkillers from local chemists whenever the pain becomes unbearable.

 “I also don’t know if the metallic implants could cause more harm if they stay in my body any longer, they were to be removed earlier this year.”

Anne Njoki, 54

It has been 12 years of struggle with pain. On September 5, 2011, Anne’s life turned upside down after she was involved in a road accident along the Kitale-Eldoret highway as she was heading  home from work.

Anne used to commute daily from her home in Moi’s Bridge town. On the fateful day, the matatu she was traveling in collided head-on with a saloon car at the Moi Bridge black spot.

“On that day I woke up in high spirits and got ready to travel to Kitale town to do business. I finished my errands then boarded a matatu back home at around 5pm. However, I did not reach my destination. After the accident, I became unconscious, only to find myself at Kitale District Hospital,” she tells Healthy Nation.

Anne, who runs a beauty shop in Kitale town, said she broke her pelvic hip and her right leg. She was transferred to Eldoret Teaching and Referral Hospital for specialised treatment.

“I stayed at the hospital for months. I underwent two surgeries, where metal implants were put to fix my hip and leg. This is how I started my disability journey, which is very challenging and lonely,” says Anne, adding:  “I had to be bedridden for six months. I couldn’t do anything for myself.”

Anne notes that life has been so tough since the accident since she has to depend on a caregiver to help her do house chores. She cannot go to the washroom alone or even have a bath on her own.

She now depends on her two children to pay her bills and buy her medicine.

However, she says that despite being registered by the National Disability Council, there is little help to support her life.

“I am weak and I always use walking crutches, but by God’s grace I am getting stronger every day.”

Stephen Wamatu, 43

Stephen Wamatu had been a truck driver for most of his adult life. He used to transport sand harvested in parts of Laikipia County to different parts of the country.

In May 2016, he was involved in a fatal accident that claimed 11 lives on the spot. He counts himself lucky to have survived the head-on collision tragedy that involved a lorry and a matatu.

“I was treated, discharged and went back to my truck job after the lorry was fixed. But every time I stepped on the brake pedal, I would feel a sharp pain pierce through my foot to the knee.

He went for a check-up. The doctor instructed him to have an X-ray. They said there was a fracture but the scan was not clear. The doctor recommended surgery.

“I wanted it done promptly so that I could go back to my business. I was triaged and ready for the surgery to remove or fix whatever was wrong with my leg.” But this decision has cost him millions of shillings trying to get it fixed until its amputation. “I felt conned at the end of the day despite spending a fortune and selling some of my properties to pay a doctor to have my leg free of pain,” he says.

During the surgery, the doctor advised that he needed orthopaedic plates that would run from his ankle to the calf of his leg. “I paid Sh360, 000 for the plates and they were installed.”

After three months, the pain in his leg resumed, this time intensely. He felt like his leg was on fire. After some time, the foot started secreting fluids with no perforations.  “Eventually, the doctors had to amputate my leg. I suffered a brief shock when the doctor finally said it was the only way to ease my pain. The leg was amputated and I am now using a prosthetic leg.”

He has gone back to his sand harvesting and transport work, thanks to the prosthetic leg. He has children and a wife who depend on him. He moves a lot, which makes the prosthetic leg tear fast.

“Accepting myself as a person with a disability from the onset of these tribulations has helped me weather emotional and mental agony that could creep in and throw me off-balance,” he says.

 Alex Irungu,27

 Alex was walking to a pre-wedding ceremony of one of his peers with a couple of his friends in Othaya, Nyeri County when a motorcycle veered off the road and knocked them down in 2021.

One of his friends suffered a broken limb while Alex sustained multiple fractures on his right hand and leg as well as head injuries that left him in a coma for three months at Mwai Kibaki Referral Hospital.

“We had left church and decided to attend the final planning event for our friend’s wedding at around 5:30pm. On our way, we were involved in a hit-and-run accident that cost my leg,” he recalls.

With the head injuries he had suffered, he had no recollection of what had happened. When he woke up, he wondered why he was in the hospital.

“Before realising that my leg had been amputated, the doctors explained to me that reconstructive surgeries and prognostics of the leg were not good, hence the need for amputation,” he says.

He was hospitalised for about five and a half months, three of which he spent in the Intensive Care Unit and the remainder in the male wards recuperating.

“The amputation marked the beginning of an excruciating journey of emotional and mental turmoil as well as physical pain. How could this happen to me? I was angry at myself and the boda boda rider,” he says.

He wallowed in pain and despair for a while until five people in the ward cubicle died and that made him realise that he was indeed lucky to have survived the accident.

“We filed a case with the police and eventually went to court but it was dismissed due to lack of sufficient evidence.” 

Before the accident, Alex worked in a hardware shop, but not anymore. But he hopes to one day leverage the electrical engineering skills he has.

“Since the accident, I have faced stigma from employers who assume I cannot do the work, especially the electrical one. I walk using a prosthetic leg that was bought through a fundraiser spearheaded by my father within the village,” Alex reveals.

 Bartholomew Muriuki , 62

The happenings of October 9, 2009, will forever be etched in Bartholomew Muriuki’s mind. He was riding home on his motorcycle from Ngurubani town, Kirinyaga County,  when he was hit by a police car, leaving him crippled.

This changed his life for the worse. Since then, he has never walked again. He was heading to his Kimbimbi home after buying a rice milling machine in Ngurubani town when a police car emerged from Makuti Junction, crashed into the motorcycle and floored him. The businessman narrates the trauma he went through after the road accident that left his left leg broken.

“The driver of the GK car didn’t stop on reaching the junction to ensure the road was clear as provided by traffic rules. He ran over me,” he recalls. He was taken to Kerugoya Referral Hospital and abandoned there.

Bartholomew was hospitalised for two years but it took six years to recover from the injuries inflicted on him. “I was physically and mentally tortured in my journey to recovery. I spent all my savings on treatment.”

He says he walked in clutches for years and even closed his business. “I couldn’t do anything and it was hard to operate my business. My children, who were then in secondary schools, kept on being sent home due to school fees and this really affected me psychologically.”

He says he was subjected to more mental torture when the police charged him in court, accusing him of causing an accident through careless driving. “I was so shocked when the police took me to court and charged me with a traffic offense, yet they were the ones who committed the offense,” he narrates.

He notes that during the trial, he was found guilty of the traffic offence and fined Sh15,000 even as he continued nursing his wounds. “The police hurriedly sued me while I was in hospital, saying I was responsible for the accident yet I was innocent.”

Caltex Omondi, 40

In the vibrant Nyali area, Mombasa, Caltex, a boda boda rider set off on a journey at 4am on May 30, 2021. He didn’t know that the morning bustle, rushing to pick up a customer, would change his life dramatically.

A truck and another vehicle with weak headlights followed him closely. The truck signalled it was turning but the other vehicle tried to pass it. Caltex only realised the danger when they were about to crash head-on.

 The other vehicle hit his leg, throwing him off the motorbike. He broke his leg. He was rushed to Coast General Referral and Teaching Hospital.

 “I stayed in the hospital for about a week before they could operate on my leg. The hospital needed Sh26,000 for the operation, but I didn’t have the money. I did not have an insurance cover. My friends came together and helped me pay the bill.”

The surgery brought a whole new set of challenges for Caltex as he could no longer walk and he needed someone to take care of him. 

He relied on neighbours since he had separated with his wife. 

Fast forward to 2023, he acknowledges that it took the help of God, friends and kind-hearted individuals to put his life together.

Ruthalia Machocho Michaels,32

On April 30, 2023, a pivotal moment would etch itself into the life of Ruthalia, a name that had once resonated in the world of event organisation and hosting. That day, her career journey took an unforeseeable turn.

She had joined her friends from Nairobi in an event they had organised in Mombasa. “I joined them since I knew it was a good space for networking. After the event, the unfortunate happened as I waited for a matatu at a bus station,” she says. 

She heard a loud bang. “I couldn’t discern much due to shock. The pain in my left leg was unbearable. When I looked down, a horrifying realisation struck - a portion of my leg lay severed, some distance away, still nestled in the sports shoes I had worn,” she recalls. 

She was taken to Jocham Hospital in Nyali and later referred to Coast General Referral and Teaching Hospital, where surgery was done.

The aftermath of the accident unleashed an unanticipated storm. Without a medical cover, Ruthalia leaned on the shoulders of family, friends, well-wishers and devoted fans.

“The ordeal revealed the true nature of the people in my life,” she says. She could barely move without crutches. “I grappled with both the physical agony and the psychological struggle of embracing my new identity as an amputee, all while shouldering the responsibility of being the guardian to my younger siblings after our parents passed on in 2017,” she explains.

Her path to recovery was paved with formidable challenges, but her love for her brothers propelled her forward.

“I had to exhibit strength for them. Acceptance became my anchor and I’m working diligently towards securing a prosthesis for enhanced mobility,” she asserts, her gaze unwavering. 

Seeking solace and connection, Ruthalia found refuge in social groups for individuals with disabilities.

“The government must impose stringent penalties for reckless drivers. Justice for victims is not a luxury but a necessity,” she says.

 Rollince Okeyo, 30

In September this year, Rollince was involved in a road accident while riding a boda boda in Voi, Taita Taveta. Together with his friends, they were on a leisure trip.

They had planned to go for a nature walk to Tanzania from Voi. Along the way, he hit a stationary vehicle ferrying tourists who had parked on the roadside, taking pictures.

“The only thing I remembered was that I hit that vehicle and later I found myself inside a health facility,” he recalls.

He was first admitted at Moi Hospital in Voi but his relatives opted to have him referred to Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret for specialised treatment. 

His limbs had been fractured.

Luckily, he had enrolled for NHIF, which catered for most of the procedures, treatment and admission. 

“My life has changed. I can’t go on with my daily routine, even the basic activities. I am optimistic I will walk normally again but this incident will leave me with severe scars,” he says.

He cautions road users to concentrate on the road because he would not wish anyone to go through what he went through.

“I would advise all road users to concentrate when they are on the road. I am in great pain and I would not wish anyone to go through it, not even my worst enemy,” he states.

 Jackson Makona, 70

Jackson can neither walk nor stand on his own after he sustained a spinal cord injury in 1993 in an accident at Sook, West Pokot County.

His tractor rolled several times down the valley as he was ferrying sand to a construction site. His vehicle’s brakes were faulty. The gearbox locked; and the tractor plunged into the valley, leaving him with severe injuries.

“My life has become meaningless. I have used a lot of money to seek treatment in different private hospitals and right now I have given up. I now use crutches and at times crawl on my knees or slide with my behind,” Jackson, a father of eight, tells Healthy Nation. 

After the accident, he was admitted at Kapenguria Hospital, where he stayed for six years while receiving treatment.

He says he lost his job immediately after the accident. He has since resorted to begging to feed his family. 

“I was forced to come out of hospital because I did not have money to pay the bills. I have been depending on herbal drugs to manage my pain. I cannot do any job at the moment,” he says, appealing to well-wishers to help him get proper treatment 

 “I’m unable to walk. My leg is dislocated, I can’t stand. I stay the whole day on the streets on an empty stomach begging for help,” Jackson says, adding he has thought of committing suicide.

 He notes that currently he is not getting elders’ cash transfer funds. “I was getting money for elders but an officer lied that I died and my name was removed from the list. I have not gotten the money for the last six months despite being assured that my name is back on the list.”

Reported by Angela Oketch, Oscar Kakai, Evans Jaola, Stanley Kimuge, Angeline Ochieng, Ruth Mbula, Irene Mugo, George Munene and Jurgen Nambeka