The sad state of a family that turned blind mysteriously and now battling cancer in Nyando Kisumu County

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Velverine in the year 2017 lost her eyesight mysteriously while at school. The family has had other histories of blindness which include her mother Dorothy and two other siblings.

Her family sought medical attention from some of the renowned eye specialist hospitals including Lions Hospital in Nairobi whose correction mechanism was ruled out for Velverine and the mother.

The diagnosis revealed that the retina was already damaged beyond repair.

The family had to accept the situation and reorganize themselves with the new reality, this saw the two younger siblings given spectacles to aid their vision as they were partially blind.

Education background

Velverine had to be enrolled in a special school for the blind for her Secondary. Being a bright girl she adopted and emerged as one of the best students in KCSE with a mean grade of C+.

Her family from 2017 has gone through the worst experience that financing her education at the university was a pipe dream.

Well-wishers have always come to their aid which saw her get enrolled in Jaramogi Odinga Oginga University College for a Bachelor of Arts in Development and Policy Studies in 2021.

Medical Situation

In November 2021 despite all the challenges that the family has had to endure in terms of lack of food, fees, and other basic family obligation, Velverine while at College started to bleed from the nose uncontrollably, especially at night.

At first, this was taken lightly as a normal situation, it continued for some time and she could no longer stay in school, she was taken home and later taken to the hospital for further examination and diagnosis.

She was taken to Russia Referral Hospital in Kisumu where several tests were conducted.

The hospital immediately referred her to Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) at the Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) section for further diagnosis and treatment. At this stage, she had already lost her smelling ability.

The National Hospital carried out all the tests which included taking samples of a mass that had been logged on her nose.

Unfortunately, after several appointments, the test revealed that Velverine was suffering from a cancerous tumor that was aggressively growing through her nose towards the brain and other organs on the head. This included the throat, Jaws, Nose eye, and also the brain.

According to the hospital, the patient could not be operated on, and recommended both Radiotherapy and Chemotherapy to manage the growth.  The doctors were frank with the family that the two could be disastrous and damaging and therefore advised palliative care to manage the pain.

Appeal For Support

Being that the family is poor and can hardly afford even the basic needs like paying fees for the other siblings, She was taken home hoping that her situation could be rescued as she was hopeful of continuing with her education and getting the family out of poverty.

Her situation has been getting worse each day, Velverine is currently admitted to Jaramogi Oginga Referral Hospital in Kisumu in a bad situation. The doctors have recommended Chemotherapy to manage the growth which has now protruded through the eye (Photos are under viewer discretion).

The family has had Volunteers and Well-wishers who have joined hands to try and assist them which has always been appreciated.

However, the family is still urgently asking for more assistance to assist the family as follows.

Velverine currently needs urgent blood transfusion O-ve because she has lost more than 80% of her blood count due to bleeding.

Well-wishers can walk in at the Jaramogi Oginga Referal Hospital hospital in Kisumu and volunteer to donate blood.

They also desperately need more financial support to assist in taking care of the hospital bills during her chemotherapy sessions. The financial support can be channeled through the pay bill above.

You can channel your contributions to

VELVERINE MEDICAL FUND

PAYBILL NUMBER 8045247

For further clarification you can contact the following numbers;

0712664640 –   Dorothy Ochieng (Mother)

0705904407    –   Samuel Ochieng  (Dad)

0724400555 –   Tony Omondi (Volunteer)

0721381756 –   Pamela Ochieng (Volunteer)

0710766658   – Collins Nam (Volunteer)

0721 269250 – Home Based Care volunteer Nurse

0721 711428- Mrs. Amolo (Volunteer)