Diba Matacho, 22, who got stuck in Marsabit Referral Hospital for three years has stunned many with his sterling performance.
Matacho, who wrote his Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education exams while bedridden and on oxygen, scored a B- (Minus). He had been stuck in the hospital for three years due to lung complications.
Marsabit Referral Hospital CEO Liban Wako, who has been hosting the patient for three years, could not hide his joy at the boy’s outstanding performance.
“Matacho has done us proud and today as the Marsabit Referral Hospital fraternity, we join his family and friends in celebrating his good results,” Mr Wako said.
He scored C+ in English, Maths C, Physics B- (minus), Chemistry C+ (Plus), Kiswahili B (plain), CRE (D plain), and Business Studies B+ (plus).
Medical Engineering
During an interview with Nation.Africa at Marsabit Referral Hospital, Matacho said hoped to score at least a B (plain) or A-(minus) but was still satisfied with the grade he attained.
He hopes to pursue a Medical Engineering course to serve other suffering patients or an accounting course at KCA University.
“I can’t thank all the well-wishers who came through for me when I was on my knees. I’m happy with what I scored though I expected to score a B plain or A,” he said.
He thanked Marsabit County’s First Lady Alamitu Jattani who donated to him an oxygen cylinder and the Nation Media Group for bringing to the limelight his plight.
Matacho was admitted to St Paul’s Secondary School in Marsabit County in 2014 but he dropped out of school in 2017 after being diagnosed with chronic tuberculosis.
After five months on the medication, his lungs collapsed and he developed lung fibrosis, forcing him to depend on oxygen therapy.
The hospital referred him to Kirwa Mission Hospital in Meru before he was sent to Kenyatta National Hospital and finally to Nairobi Women’s Hospital for specialized treatment.
At Nairobi Women’s Hospital, he was introduced to strong drugs that cost Sh60,000 per month for three months. His condition improved slightly, reducing his oxygen dependency from 24 hours to eight hours a day.
Expensive drugs
But he stopped taking the drugs because he could not afford them. He returned to Marsabit Referral Hospital for support since he could not survive without an oxygen concentrator machine.
Ms Jattani expressed her joy over Matacho’s sterling performance. she promised to buy him a portable oxygen concentrator.
His former teacher Fauzia Liban formed three WhatsApp groups where they managed to raise to raise Sh500,120 for Matacho.
