• Doctors at KNH said a chemotherapy session will cost Sh120,000 and she needs 18 sessions which should be three weeks apart.
• The National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) is only able to cover 20 percent of the money needed for the chemotherapy session.
Image: COURTESY
Nancy Akinyi Jagongo has a hole the size of a hand in her chest, and the wound keeps on growing bigger by the day.
The 38-year-old mother of five is suffering from breast cancer, which she was diagnosed with in 2021 when it was in its second stage.
Akinyi’s life and that of her five children were forced to change drastically after that unfortunate diagnosis last year.
As the sole breadwinner of her family, Akinyi had to rely on her earnings as a fishmonger in Ongata Rongai, Kajiado County, to cater to her treatment at Kenyatta National Hospital.
After months of clinical visits to establish her ailment, Akinyi’s finances have been depleted and she is bed-ridden and unable to speak.
Jennifer Maina, the founder of Mercy Basket, a Non-governmental organisation that feeds families with sick breadwinners, speaks on her behalf.
"She has been seeking treatment at KNH and has used the little savings she had left on hospital visits and tests," Maina said.
She said Mercy Basket had to step in to provide food for them.
Maina said Akinyi was told by doctors at KNH that a session will cost Sh120,000 and she needs 18 sessions which should be three weeks apart.
During a previous fundraiser, they managed to get a small amount of money but unfortunately, it was not enough to get her to even one chemotherapy session.
While she waits on a financial breakthrough, her children and a well-wisher have to use a bucket to constantly drain blood from the wound in her chest.
Her children, 23, 21, 16, 10 and a one-year-old, are greatly affected by their mother’s illness.
They are constantly in and out of school because of lacking school fees with the eldest son, Milan Akinyi, dropping out during his second year at the Technical University of Mombasa last year.
“His younger siblings keep going back to school without fees with the hopes that they might be allowed in class for at least one more day to catch up with the rest,” Maina said.
She said that the treatment Akinyi needs is beyond the reach of the larger family because they have exhausted all the money they had.
In addition, the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) is only able to cover 20 per cent of the money needed for the chemotherapy sessions.
"She cannot move out of bed. I'm appealing to well-wishers to come to her aid and save her life for the sake of her children," Maina pleaded.
Any willing well-wishers can channel their contribution via Mpesa.
The process is: Go to Lipa na Mpesa, choose buy goods and services and enter till number 9320593. The recipient's name is Nancy Agongo.
His son Milan can also be reached on 0758896281 and Nancy's sister on 0727832935.