Visually-impaired gospel musician Carole Muthoni during the interview with the Nation.
It was New Year 2010 when Mrs Carole Muthoni's life plunged into darkness. She went to bed with her eyesight intact, but woke up blind on January 2.
Mrs Muthoni was 25 years old, married for eight years and had two children.
"It marked the worst nightmare of my life then. I was married and a mother to an eight-year-old daughter and a son. What immediately came to mind was that my in-laws had finally bewitched me," Mrs Muthoni says.
Although she has since regained her confidence in life after becoming a gospel artiste and training in Braille, embroidery and massage, her story is one of fate determined to fix her and her continued refusal to budge.
Carole Muthoni works with her embroidery machine outside her house on January 8, 2025.
It was not easy for her to move from denial, self-hate and eventually accepting herself and growing positively.
Her poor family was confused on how to deal with her sudden blindness, some suggesting that goat or lactating mother's milk be put into her eyes, which was done but no eyesight was restored.
After five days of waiting against hope that as sudden as her eyesight had departed it would come back, a decision to take her to hospital was arrived at.
Ms Muthoni says her major undoing was the poverty that had surrounded her throughout her life, forcing her to drop out of school in Standard Six and start working in quarries in Gathangari village, Kandara constituency.
"I would get paid Sh60 per day for work done starting 7am to 5pm. Poverty is the worst degrading form of living," she says.
It was while working in the quarries that she met a suitor at the age of 16 years, dated for a year and got married at the age of 17 years.
"When I became blind and before I could be taken to hospital for check-up, my husband had developed a daily routine of beating me up," she says.
Things only got worse after the sudden blindness.
"The furthest I could go without help was grope my way outside the door. I contemplated suicide," she says.
Nevertheless, in the third week of her blindness, she was taken to a Thika town hospital where she was admitted.
Visually-impaired gospel musician Carole Muthoni during the interview with the Nation.
According to medical documents by Dr Tom Omondi, several tests were conducted on her.
It was when she had her vision inspected that it was discovered she had suffered years of blood clot in her nerves.
"Noted were old blood clots on both eyes' nerves that with time caused blindness. Diagnosis: Central retinal artery occlusion: Blockage in the central retinal artery, often caused by a blood clot or cholesterol," Dr Omondi indicated.
It was during patient interrogation that an accident she had when she was 12 years old came to prominence.
In the accident, while playing in the village, she had collided head-on with a male playmate leaving her with a cracked tissue just above the right eye.
She explained that her parents arrested the gushing blood by applying salt to the crack, tied it with a piece of cloth and after two weeks of washing the wound and redressing it, she had been considered as healed.
Dr Leonard Gikera from Murang'a Level Five hospital says all head, face and chest injuries should never be taken for granted.
"In Ms Muthoni's case, that accident was major. Any accident that leaves your head or face with wounds. should be treated as serious until proven otherwise. Had it been known by her parents, such accidents usually bring about stroke, paralysis or blindness, including sudden death," Dr Gikera said.
Carole Muthoni works with her embroidery machine outside her house on January 8, 2025.
She advises that all blunt force trauma on the head especially that which shocks the brain, face and chest should always be taken seriously.
"Listening to the doctor speak, the little hope I had in that hospital bed evaporated, leaving me with a hollowness that left me embracing the grave as the only reprieve," she said.
She says the doctor might have noted the desperation that came into her life for he waived her bills and admitted her to one week counselling session.
"But even when I left the hospital, I refused to go to my marital home, opting to go to my mother's compound. The agenda in my head then was to go and commit suicide silently in my mother's house," she says.
But while suicide was previously in Muthoni's mind, she is more reflective now: "God had His own verdict that to date amazes me on how it has given me celebration instead of gloom".
Fake miracle crusades
In her desperation, she says many people provided different theories about her situation.
"Some said my blindness was as a result of witchcraft, others said there were cultural issues that were avenging on our non-compliance. Then there are those who would say the man who impregnated my mother had cursed me," she says.
She reveals that she was even brokered to some fake miracle performers.
"This made me sick because some of the brokers who earned by transporting me to fake miracle crusades were close family members," she said.
It was in 2012 when a new inspiration hit her.
"I do not know where the inspiration came from, I just found myself composing gospel songs. It was like everyone was waiting to see her gain an iota of positivity to support me," she says.
Family members fundraised and took her to the studio where she released her first album.
Mary Wanjiru, a seasoned gospel artist whose stage name is Shiro wa GP, inspired and helped her produce three albums containing 19 songs in 2012. That is how Wendo wa Nguvu, meaning “mighty love” came to life. Other since then have been Utetagia Ngai Niki (Why quarrel God) in 2014 and Wigirie Maithori (wipe away your tears) in 2016.
It was through Shiro wa GP and inspirational speaker Anne Kariuki whose stage name is Gikombe kia Ruo (mug of pain) that Ms Muthoni started receiving invites in churches to share her story and congregations would fundraise for her.
"That is how I moved from my mother's care in 2015 after I had saved Sh53,000. I moved into a rental house in Thika town where the male landlord and some male tenants stigmatised me a great deal for refusing their sexual advances," she says.
She says her children were the two pillars in her life and she worked hard in her new found positive living to provide for them.
In 2018 she was sponsored into Machakos School For the Blind to start a new phase in her life.
"I went straight into braille, which I mastered in three months. My tutors were amazed at how fast I had accepted my situation. I also trained in embroidery and massage," she says.
“I earn my living through embroidery, motivational speaking, brand ambassador as well as massaging. The only challenge I have is that I cannot massage male clients since I don't have a secure facility where my wellbeing can be guaranteed. I only attend to women clients in my own home," she says.
She hopes to save enough money to put up a massage parlour with enough security and staff.
"That would open many doors for me,” she says.
Besides educating her children, she has managed to buy land in Juja's Runda estate where her home is now 50 per cent complete.
Ms Muthoni also plans to further her education in addition to her training in embroidery and massage.
