Life Experience
Anne's Story
Have you ever thought of a road crash and how it happens, when it happens and whether it will ever happen to you? If your answer is yes, what would be your survivor skills? If your answer is no, then I implore you to read this story of a lady so beautiful, brave and full of bounce, and how one road incident at a very young and tender age, changed her whole life drastically.
Anne is a beautiful soft spoken lady and is currently living in the States. Having graduated (Biology Major), she is currently pursuing her Masters. She is the last born and has 7 sisters and one brother. It’s taken her 19 years to reach where she is, and that can only be through inner strength only understood by the survivor spirit, which she ultimately has.
19 years ago, Anne was involved in a road crash at the tender age of 7. It was at the end of the school year and she had just completed her first year in primary school - first grade. Being a bright and intelligent student, Anne passed her exams and was eager to get home and show it off to her family. She left school together with her friends, who were also her neighbors. They arrived at the main road (Langata road) and just as they were always taught in school, they followed the traffic rules and also did not forget the basic road safety rules told to them several times by their parents. Since the road was clear and no vehicles were on sight, they decided to cross. After that - an incident that happened close to 19 years ago - she vaguely recalls what happened, although remembers being told that after crossing the main road a car appeared and skidded off the road and rammed towards them hitting Anne and instantly knocking her to the ground.
Anne ended up paraplegic, paralyzed from her lower chest down and was admitted at the spinal injury hospital for rehabilitation. Since it happened when she was very young, Anne did not really understand why she was different from her friends and schoolmates. For her to move on, she learned to face her fears and accept herself for who she was. Fortunately, her parents chose not to deny her of her opportunities. They (her parents) boldly faced the challenge and took Anne to normal schools, where although she tried to ignore it, she could not help but notice that she was different and especially as she was the only one on a wheelchair. Some of her peers would make fun of her and she would get really discouraged but through her strong faith in God she pulled through. Anne’s family who she describes as her rock, have played a major role in being her strength and to date have been her constant support system. Without their continuous attention, love and support Anne believes that she would not have made it this far. “I am very grateful to God for giving me such a supportive family” she says.
Going back to school she faced many challenges. In continuing her Primary education, she transferred to a rural school where she continued facing hurdles. In the rainy season, going to school was tough due to the muddy terrain and the wheelchair could break down in the middle of the road. This affected her self-esteem because she felt like she had to depend so much on people, which sometimes became too much for them to bear. As a consequence she would sometimes blame herself for this but she later on decided to gain strength (Kujipa Moyo, as it’s known in Kiswahili). Her strength came through for her when she was called to Alliance Girls High School, having performed well in K.C.P.E. But the struggles and challenges were yet to continue. Despite it being a National Secondary School, and thus expected to provide comfort to ALL students, she continued facing hurdles. Alliance Girls (Bush as it is famously nicknamed), just like most Kenyan schools (whether Primary, Secondary or Tertiary Institutes), was limited in wheelchair accessibility, and she had to rely on fellow school mates to help her out and down the staircases, and most of the time she was forced to pass on school gigs and extracurricular activities. Despite all the challenges Anne faced in high school, she successfully completed and passed her exams and was admitted to South Bend University in Indiana (USA) where she graduated with a degree in biology! Clearly proving that disability is not inability and there is life after spinal cord injuries!
19 years on, Anne still struggles to fit in with other people. “There are always stares, and whispers. But they make me stronger” she asserts, “No one can really understand how it feels, unless they are or have been part of it. There are days I feel different from everyone else, but then again, there are days that I feel very normal. I tell myself that this is part of my life now and I have to embrace it, and try to make something better out of it. My family was also affected by this. There are a lot of things that I needed assistance with like the simple day to day routines, which was tough on them. Financially there were hospital bills, rehabilitation visits, doctor checkups, wheelchair replacement and repairs, special accommodation/modification in the house. All these are issues that I believe many car crash victims undergo.”
Having lived the life, she understands THE IMPORTANCE AND THE NEED TO ENFORCE A LAW (S) IN KENYA THAT WILL PAY MORE ATTENTION TO ROAD SAFETY.
Anne continues to say, “Rules should be placed to decrease the rate of car crashes that take place. There should be compensation for those hurt in crashes. They should not be ignored. Buildings and public transportation should be made to accommodate the disabled as well. There is a social stigma associated with the disabled and some of them are regarded as outcasts. Therefore if there is more campaigning on road safety, and more exposure on this issue, especially in developing countries, the government will and should feel some pressure and act on it. People will be knowledgeable of how many lives are changed and lost due to car crashes. The politicians should also take it upon themselves to spread the word around on road safety.
Truly, if words were enough to compensate road crash victims, then the world would be a much better place. But truth and sincerity be spoken: words are not enough! There is a lot that can be done to reduce and in the long run stop road crashes. As Anne said, there needs to be Laws that will protect and speak for individuals involved in road crashes. There needs to be a Medical Bill that will cover for the day to day life of anyone affected in a road crash. There are many loopholes when it comes to ROAD SAFETY but the good news is that, IT ALL BEGINS AND ENDS WITH YOU THE READER.
Story by: Casey Marenge/Keshi Njoroge
