Plight of aged couple battling perennial illness

Mary Nafula and her husband, Mathayo Simiyu in their home in Khelela village, Bumula Ward, Bumula Constituency, Bungoma County. The family is reaching out to well-wishers for financial support to enable the duo get proper medication. PHOTO/Simiyu Junior, The Scholar Media Africa.

A family from Khelela village, Bumula Ward in Bumula Constituency, Bungoma County, is appealing for well-wishers to intervene and help Mary Nafula, 69, and Mathayo Simiyu, 78, a couple that has lived for years without access to proper medication.

In an exclusive interview with The Scholar Media Africa, Mr. Simiyu said that his family is unable to raise funds for them to access medication.

Simiyu added that he tried to seek medication at Bungoma County Referral Hospital and Tororo Hospital in Uganda, but his condition has not improved.

“Since I started ailing in 2020, I have been moving from hospital to hospital without getting healed. I have spent almost a million shillings but haven’t healed,” Simiyu said.

Simiyu has five children; they are yet to secure job opportunities and are leading distressful lives.

“In my marriage, I was blessed with four boys and one girl who is a salonist that helps me get food and other basic needs,” he said.

Simiyu said that before he started ailing, he was working as a security guard at the neighboring primary school so that he could raise funds to cater for the needs of his family.

Mr. Simiyu pointed out that he stays with his wife, Mary Nafula, 69, who is also sick with an abnormal breast swelling.

Simiyu adds that the swelling has lasted for many years.

He says they have been seeking medication, but their efforts have not yielded fruits.

“My wife has an abnormal breast swelling that makes her uncomfortable to walk, eat, sleep and take part in any small work in the house,” he said.

He added that his wife screams the whole night due to pain.

He noted that out of his five children, only two are available at home, but they lack jobs to earn a living to help him access medication.

He also told The Scholar that he has tried reaching out to a local political leader, but the politician keeps promising that he will help him go to the hospital.

He says that according to the doctor’s recommendation, he is expected to go for dialysis twice per week.

He lacks the money to facilitate his movement from Bungoma to Eldoret.

“With the hiked fare, I cannot manage to move from Bungoma to Eldoret twice per week for dialysis.

I also have no place in Eldoret where I can stay,” Simiyu explained.

Simiyu, according to the doctor, suffers from kidney failure that needs immediate medical attention.

He added that he was earlier operated on and a tube inserted in his body for biological reasons.

Mathayo Simiyu who is suffering from kidney failure. He is reaching out to well-wishers for financial support to enable him and his wife get proper medication. PHOTO/Simiyu Junior, The Scholar Media Africa.

“Before I went for dialysis, I was unable to go for a short call as I had developed a problem with my urinary system that made it difficult for me to urinate,” he said.

He said that the hospital bill at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret now stands at Ksh. 168,000.

On her part, Joan Nakhumicha, their daughter, said that her parents have been ailing for four years now.

She added that she has now spent everything she had to pay hospital bills.

Ms. Nakhumicha said that she was also involved in an accident that affected her work, where she could raise funds to help her parents.

“I am the only one who comes around to visit my parents because my brothers aren’t here, and they have nothing to bring home,” she said.

“The little that I raise from my small salon business I spend it to buy food for my parents and meet other basic needs,” she said.

In her appeal, Nakhumicha asks local leaders and Kenyans at large to help her parents get medication.

For support and other details you can reach the victims’ through: +254723626506.

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