16-year-old Sylvia Cheptowot Losorekow from Tot High School was hailed as a National hero during the Mashujaa day celebrations by President Ruto’s government.
She saved her 140 schoolmates from death row after a convoy of 3 buses they used to return from a school field trip was ambushed by bandits from the Rift valley.
She used her voice to save the lives of many on that unforgettable February 17th, 2022.
Sylvia Cheptowot recalls how an illuminating trip to Lake Baringo with so many fun moments turned gloom after a traumatic ambush would shatter all their happiness for months to come.
Bandits lay an ambush on the roads and sprayed the three buses with bullets unceasingly. The driver of the bus lost his life.
“Tukakutana na wahalifu, tukapigwa na risasi, driver wetu akakufa na wenzangu wakaumia…hata mimi niliskia nimepigwa kwa miguu mbili yote, na ya left ikavunjika,” she recalls.
Confused and bleeding, Sylvia had already panicked as the situation around her was beyond imaginable. She did the only thing she could think of at the moment; speak to the bandits and scream.
She says she heard them speak a language that she could clearly understand. She heard them say they wanted to enter the bus and complete their deadly mission; kill everyone.
“Walikuwa wanataka kuingia basi, mimi nikafungua mdomo nikaongea, ndio hao wakasikia mdomo yangu, nikapiga nduru, wakasikia, nikawaambia sisi ni wanafunzi wa Tot High School na sisi ni Pokot tuko ndani msitumalize,” she says.
Translation: They wanted to enter the bus. I opened my mouth and spoke in Pokot. I screamed and told them, ‘we are students from Tot High School, do not kill us.
Her words were enough to convince the bandits not to engage any further in their mission and leave the students in the bus and those in the two other buses behind them.
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Many injured students were evacuated from the scene and rushed to a local hospital where they received treatment. Sylvia, being shot in both legs, had to go through many theatrical procedures to fix her legs.
“Kufika Kapsowar nikapelekwa theatre, nikafanyiwa operation, risasi ilikwamia ndani, nikakaa mpaka asubuhi wakanipeleka ward, wakapima miguu yangu wakasema ilikuwa imevunjika vibaya na watawekea chuma ya nje, wakafanya operation Monday, wakawekea kichuma ya nje,” says Sylvia.
Translation: I arrived in Kapsowar and was taken to the theatre where they carried out an operation. A bullet was lodged deep inside and they took me to the ward early in the morning, tested my legs which were badly broken, and put a metal plate in them.
She spent three months in the hospital, and another four at home recuperating, but that journey to recovery hasn’t been easy. She has had another operation since to fix the metal plate in her leg.
Sylvia Cheptowot was among the 230 national heroes recognized on Mashujaa day, highlighted as one of the country’s youngest heroes.