The Day I Survived Death-Philp Etale
One Friday evening in 2001, I had a terrible stomachache. At night, the situation worsened. My whole body was in pain. The stomach was aching and in serious pain. I thought I was going to die. I lived in Kahawa West then. My best friend Richard Chacha lived in the same estate but had travelled to the countryside. I decided, in that pain to walk to the nearby clinic. It was around 2:00am. The doctor ran some tests and found out that I had eaten something that had poison. And he told me it was severe and that I needed urgent medical attention. He asked that I be taken to KNH or Kiambu District Hospital. I lived alone. I had no one to help me. And so I explained it to him. Dr. Njenga was his name. He offered to drive me to Kiambu District Hospital. He ensured I was admitted in the amenity ward where I could be given close attention. I had my Sagem phone and I just dropped a short text to my mother “Mum, I am seriously sick, admitted at Kiambu district hospital”. That was on Sunday morning. My sister Sharon tells me that my mother was in Church when the text popped up on her phone. “Philo, mum was distraught. She looked confused and tears began rolling down her cheeks”, she said. “Nobody else but me understood why her mood had changed suddenly”, she added.
She told me that mum left the church midway without talking to anyone. Went straight to the main road and boarded a Kenya Bus to Nairobi.
I am telling you my friend, by 7:00pm, I saw my mother by the side of my bed. At that time I was on the drip, consuming that water so furiously. When I saw her, I could see tears in her eyes. I also became emotional. She spoke to the doctor incharge and the next few hours, she hired a cab and told me I have to be treated by our family doctor who was then based at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret. I was discharged and we let the hospital accompanied by a nurse who later returned to Nairobi with the cab mum had hired. At the MT&RH, it was discovered that my intestines had been badly affected. I remember mum telling me after healing, “Philo, you know the doctor told me eti intestines zako zilikuwa zimeanza kuoza and that you had less than 48 hours left for you on earth” and she broke down while we took tea and scones at an hotel in Eldoret town.
I survived death just by my mom’s quick decision to transfer me to MT&RH. Her instincts were very clear that if I don’t do this, something bad can happen. This morning, I watched RAUKA on Citizen Tv and Ken the DJ and his guest spoke about a mother’s love. That a mother’s love is irreplaceable. My mother died when I was just in my early thirties, at the time when I had not given her much returns for the good care she gave me as a mother.
Today in Church, I will pray for all mothers taking care of their children. I will also pray for my mom’s soul to continue Resting in Peace.
Live your mother when she is still alive. Take good care of her. Do what she says and listen to her. Be obedient to her because that one powerful phrase ’God Bless you’ she will say to you, will work miracles for you.
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