When Lydia Wangui Mwangi left her home on the night of May 5, 2018, she did not know what was awaiting her that day would change the course of her future forever.
Wangui, then 27-years-old and a mother of two, was heading to town from Juja and boarded a Super Metro company bus plying the Thika Superhighway route.
“I was seated on the front seat where the driver is, I sat on the left side next to the window. I noticed the driver sleeping on and off as I was busy listening to music on YouTube. The passenger in the middle was deep asleep.
“The driver was driving in the middle lane but suddenly the vehicle started drifting to the next lane where there was a vehicle where passengers were alighting. I looked at the driver and he was sleeping. I shouted you want to kill us today. The driver woke up, panicked, the vehicle swerved but it was too late.”
Wangui narrated painfully how the bus he was in hit the other commuter bus operated by Lofa Sacco leaving her with a fractured leg as she was sitting on the left side that absorbed most of the impact.
According to a medical report from Nairobi Hospital seen by Nairobi News, Wangui suffered comminuted fractures.
A comminuted fracture, according to Spine-Health, is a break or splinter of the bone into more than two fragments.
Since considerable force and energy is required to fragment bone, fractures of this degree occur after high-impact trauma such as in vehicular accidents.
“After the incident, no one wanted to carry me because of the bleeding but one man said he will take me to the hospital because if I stay there I will die from bleeding,” She reflected as her face filled with pain reliving the fateful moment.
She was first rushed to Ruaraka Uhai Neema Hospital along Thika Road before being referred to St. Francis Hospital because of the complicated fracture.
The nurses wanted to amputate her leg because of how badly it was injured but she was opposed to this.
“As they were preparing for the surgery I said no, am not going to be amputated because I was feeling my toes,” he added.
After calls were made to her aunt, Wangui was moved yet again to Nairobi Hospital and her healing process begun.
“First I was fitted with an external fixator and I stayed with it until November 2018 then it was removed and another external fixator and a locking plate were used. The latter was for bone transport after I lost 4 cm of bone during the accident” Wangui added.
She still cannot walk almost two years after the fateful day of the crash and uses crutches to support her movement even as the pain remains excruciating.
“I have been through so much pain and no painkiller is working. At times the pain is so much no one can understand the pain. Many times I have prayed to God not for healing but for Him to take away my pain,” she said in reflection.
Wangui remains optimistic she will someday walk again and be able to carry her three-and-a-half-year -old baby girl who cannot comprehend why her mother cannot carry her around like other children.
She has commended her aunt and friends who have stood by her during her trying moments for the past two years but she is now keen on being able to support herself financially.
Before her accident, Wangui worked in the hospitality industry but now wants to venture into the food business where she cooks then delivers to clients.
“I already have a canteen and I can cook very well, I just need someone to help me in delivering the ordered food. I also need more orders so that I can now help my aunt and friends in taking care of myself and children,” Wangui added.
The lively and determined mother of two is planning to advertise her service online after digital humanitarian Philip Ogola volunteered to offer her a few classes on how to use social media to leverage on her business.
SOURCE: nairobinews.nation.co.ke
