Bedridden KCSE candidate’s passionate appeal for help
Ned Gori, KCSE candidate from Dagoretti High School, is hospitalised at KNH with sickle cell anemia. His mother is pleading to raise Sh12 million for a bone marrow transplant in India after his exams.
What you need to know:
- Ned was diagnosed with sickle cell anemia when he was just four months old.
- His father, Edwin, was taken away from them when Ned was only six years old. He was shot and killed on his way from work.
With less than a week left to his first paper of the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations, Ned Gori lies in a hospital bed at Kenyatta National Hospital, the steady hum of machines and the sharp smell of antiseptic filling the air around him.
Like his classmates at Dagoretti High School, Ned should be thinking about formulas and essays. This, however, is not the case as he battles waves of pain that have marked every step of his young life.
Through the door, he can hear the soft murmurs and footsteps of other patients – a constant reminder that, for him, hospital wards are as familiar as a second home.
His mother, Florence Atieno, sits by his bedside, her presence steady, her eyes filled with a quiet hope that only mothers who have fought long, hard battles can understand.
On Monday, November 4, 2024, he will begin his KCSE exams – a milestone marking both a personal victory and a step toward his dreams.
Since Ned was diagnosed with sickle cell anemia when he was just four months old, his life has been a series of battles fought from a hospital bed. Each crisis takes him away from school, from friends, and from the chance to live like other teenagers.
“He wants to be just like the others, but the illness doesn’t allow it,” his mother says, her voice a mixture of pride and worry.
Ambitious
She’s worked tirelessly, pouring everything into his future, and he knows that passing the KCSE examinations will mean the world to her. Despite the weight of his condition, he has held fast to his dreams, believing that this might be the first real step toward a better life, a life where his mother’s sacrifices won’t be in vain.
“I want to become a nurse – to give back, to help others the way they’ve helped me. I know what it’s like to feel fragile, to rely on someone’s kindness and care. If I can give even a fraction of that hope to someone else, I’ll know my life means something,” he said.
For the last 18 years, Florence has fought alongside her son, through sleepless nights and unending hospital stays, through the pain of knowing his health could improve if only they could afford the right treatment.
“My son has spent more days in hospital beds than in a classroom, yet he’s one of the brightest students I know. On November 4, 2024, he’ll sit for his first exam paper, something we’ve prayed for through countless long nights.
"He can look at someone and instantly know if they’re unwell; he’s so familiar with needles and IVs that he can even tell which vein to use. This has been his life – a life lived between doctors and treatments instead of books and friends. It breaks my heart, but I’m so proud of his strength and spirit,” said Ms Atieno.
Ned’s father, Edwin, was taken away from them when Ned was only six years old. He was shot and killed on his way from work, and Florence was not only left grieving but also struggling to provide for her two young sons. She runs a small business that sustains the family but it is certainly insufficient to raise the life-saving bone marrow transplant that Ned urgently needs.
“The doctor said it will cost Sh12 million to take him to India for a bone marrow transplant; a figure that feels like a mountain I can’t climb. I’ve tried everything, exhausted every option, but we are still so far from that amount. I’m pleading, with every bit of strength I have left, because I can’t bear the thought of losing him. He’s my world, my light, and the thought of him slipping away because I couldn’t find a way to save him ... it’s too much to bear. Please, I need help. He deserves a chance to live,” said Ms Atieno.
The toll of Ned’s illness has weighed heavily on his family. His younger brother has also struggled, watching his brother’s pain affect his own school performance and worrying about his future. Teachers have reached out to Ms Atieno, noting his academic decline, and she tries her best to support him too.
“My younger child is worried for his brother, his teachers called me and informed me about his academic decline, I am worried, as a mother I do not know what to do, please just help me, help my son and his brother,” she said.
Expensive surgery
Ned’s life has been a cycle of brief periods of stability followed by urgent, sometimes life-threatening health crises.
His need for a bone marrow transplant is critical, yet its prohibitive cost of 12 million shillings looms like a mountain.
"Every time I get a call, I worry it’s the hospital, or something worse, he’s just a child, but he’s had to grow up with the burdens of his illness, sometimes his schoolmates question why Ned is frequently absent and dependent on medications.”
“Some even assume he has HIV because of all the medicines he has to take,” Ms Atieno said.
“If anyone can help, no matter how small, it would change our lives. My son deserves a chance at a future without pain. He deserves to live,” she said.
Well-wishers can support Ned through PAYBILL NUMBER: 4230034, ACCOUNT NAME: NED GORI MEDICAL FUND, ACCOUNT NUMBER: NED MEDICAL
