opinion
Family remains hopeful and optimistic despite a litany of woes that have befallen them over the last 22 years
SIMEON Ratemo Kerandi, 61, has been bedridden for the last 22 years. On October 2, 1988 at 4pm, Kerandi saw two men fighting and like the Good Samaritan, he went to separate them outside his shop at Nyabiuto Shopping Centre in Kiogoro, Kisii district.
It is this incident that was supposed to lead to the ending of a fight that changed his life forever, confining him into his bed, from where he eats, and even answers his calls of nature.
The rescue mission ended tragically when one of the men pushed him and forced him to land awkwardly on a sharp incline. To make things worse, the man then fell on our hero.
Kerandi was taken to Kisii District Hospital, now Kisii Level Five Hospital, and later to the New Nyanza Hospital in Kisumu for treatment but it was all too late to save him. He has never walked since then. He suffered a lasting injury to his spinal cord and despite several visits to hospitals, Kerandi has never recovered.
As if he was not in enough trouble, Kerandi later suffered a stroke that paralysed the left side of his body.”When I was in Kisumu, I received no treatment other than physiotherapy, so I requested to be transferred to Kisii. I lost hope and came home. At least from here I could visit the hospital for checkups,” he said resignedly.
Next to his bed where he has spent 22 years was a small transistor radio tuned to Egesa FM, a local vernacular radio station. “This radio has been my friend for all the years that I have been confined to bed. It informs me what happens in the outside world,” he said when a group of journalists visited his home in Boronyi village.
Kerandi cannot move and can take up to three months without basking in the sun. He lives sheathed in blankets, optimistic that one day a miracle will happen and he will be healed.”I’m praying that one day I will be able to walk and fend for my family. The years I have been in bed have been torturous and mentally draining for me, but I have not lost hope,” he added.
Though his face appears relaxed and affords an occasional smile, the bright eyes give an impression of a man who has been in trouble for the better part of his life.His wife Pauline Kwamboka has stood by him, true to their marriage vows that only death would do them part.
Whenever Kerandi wants to bask in the sun, a privilege that he rarely enjoys, his nephews must be called in to help move him out and they must hang around to return him into the house.
It is Kwamboka who runs errands, including menial jobs at villagers’ homes to bring home the bread for her ailing man.
She has to ensure that she attends to his needs, including ensuring he is cleaned and cleaning the mess in the bed after he answers his calls of nature.
She says a time comes when even the blankets get too old to shelter him from the cold but she has to struggle even harder to make him comfortable.
The couple were married in 1971 and Kwamboka insists she has no option apart from standing by her husband until help comes their way.
To add more pain to the couple’s life, their two sons were gunned down by the police a few years ago as suspected criminals. Kerandi said his sons, Robert Ondimu and Dennis Machuki, were killed separately by the police.
When he was injured, Ondimu and Machuki were 16 and eight years old respectively. He says his sons would not have turned to crime had he not fallen ill and been unable to guide them as they grew up. “They were suspected to be criminals but if I had been OK, I don’t think they would have died that way. It is painful to lose two sons in such circumstances,” he added.
Source: www.nairobistar.com
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