Before 31 August 2001, Egidiah Karegi was eating life with a big spoon. On that day, she took a typhoid vaccine. Suddenly, everything changed, for the worst. First came the nausea, then the pain, the restlessness and breathlessness, and finally total immobility. With no cure in sight, she was condemned to a life as a quadriplegic. Henceforth, she began a life of total dependence turning her dreams, hopes and aspirations into pessimism and despair, which almost drove her into depression.
Egidiah’s is a story of resilience, patience and determination. It is living testimony of dreams and aspirations that are brought down and a lesson that, no matter how hard and deep one falls, it is possible rekindle the life one desired albeit in a different way.
The experience will inspire hope in millions of people with disability, both visible and invisible, as well as enhance awareness among all those charged with the responsibility of caring for the disabled.