After excelling in his 1999 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) Exams, Benson Mbundi successfully applied for the Electronic Diversity Visa Program (Green Card) to study in the US.
Mbundi, who scored C+, won a full scholarship to join a university in Texas, USA, an opportunity he was excited about.
His dream to further his studies abroad was, however, cut short just a month to his planned travel date after he developed unclear health issues.
According to published reports, Mbundi had traveled upcountry in Bobasi Constituency, Kisii County, for the send-off of a relative who had passed on.
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It was at that time that he started experiencing frequent headaches and losing and developing weak limbs.
His parents took him for treatment in various hospitals, but their efforts were in vain as his condition worsened, and at one point, he fell into a coma.
Efforts by doctors to restore Mbundi’s strength in his limbs, especially his legs, were futile as he became paralyzed.
His condition forced his family to sell all they had to cater for his medical bills and salvage Mbundi’s opportunity to study abroad.
This was, however, the end of the road for Mbundi’s studies, and his star that was about to shine dimmed completely. His life was glued to his mattress at home as he could not move from one place to another without assistance.
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“If anyone is not around to move him back into the house, he can get rained on. He has really suffered,” stated his mother.
24 years later, Mbundi still lives with the illness, with his cry on well-wishers to support him in buying a wheelchair as well as support his children to access education.