By SYLVANIA AMBANI
A street boy on a begging mission in Thika town was reduced to tears and sobs after meeting with a terminally ill woman who relies on oxygen cylinders for survival.

The emotional John Thuo could not believe his eyes and eventually donated his proceeds of the day, Sh100, as his contribution to a funds drive to help Ms Gladys Kamende undergo a lung reconstruction surgery.

Ms Kamende was seated on the front passenger seat of a vehicle and was being driven around the streets of the town to ask for money to raise the Sh7 million needed for the surgery.

SPEECHLESS AND OVERWHELMED

So, the young street boy approached her window, as he had done innumerable times, to ask for ‘kitu kidogo‘, but when she lowered the window, he was left speechless and got overwhelmed by emotions on seeing Ms Kamende’s state.

His encounters in the tough streets of Thika, it seems, had not numbed his good conscience.

Amid the tears, sobs and a running nose, he gave out Sh100 to Ms Kamende.

“I was in a car in Thika together with friends trying to create awareness on my condition, to get well-wishers to help me with the amount of money needed for my surgery. And that is when the boy came to our car asking for money,” Ms Kamende told Nairobi News in a phone interview.

“He then saw me and started getting emotional, sympathizing with my condition. He cried a lot and proceeded to give me the money he had been able to collect from his begging which was sh100, so that I can go to hospital and get better.”

UNTHINKABLE

The encounter was about to get more emotional after the street boy did the unthinkable.

He threw away the bottle of glue he was sniffing and refused to be separated from Ms Kamende. He further asked Ms Kamende to take him with her to her house so he can help her with house chores.

Ms Kamande has been through a lot in her struggle to remain alive, but never had she experienced the cocktail of emotions she felt at that moment.

She took the street boy under her wing and guided him to a children’s home in Thika -but with strict instructions that she would come back for him when she is well again.

PHOTO | COURTESY

Ms Kamande has been surviving on oxygen cylinders that she has walked with for the last six years. Her life changed in 2010 after developing a growth in her stomach and had to go for an operation. Twelve surgeries later, she lost her eyesight and her lungs collapsed.

Due to her deteriorating health her husband deserted her and their daughter.

Well-wishers can support her financially through:

PAYBILL
Paybill Number: 891300
Account Name: GLADYS

MPESA
Mobile Number: 0716 338018
(Wambui Kamande)
Mobile Number: 0718 036537
(Gladys Wairimu)

Source: Nairobi News