MY HISTORY: A long journey to healing

Linda Kaveke was seven months pregnant when a trailer crashed into the car that she and her boyfriend Ian Kamau were traveling on Mombasa Road, leaving her physically and mentally broken.

At the age of 22, Linda became a single mother after Ian succumbed to her injuries, and she found herself healing a broken heart and a broken leg. Despite the seriousness of the accident that exposed the femur bone on his knee, his lump was unhurt.

"I remember that so many people came out of nowhere to help us after the accident. He was taken in an ambulance and brought by a good Samaritan to the hospital. It's the last time I've really seen it, "says Linda.

Linda remembers being admitted to a hospital bed in front of Ian. She kept looking at him, waiting for him to wake up. Then, at one point, the hospital staff rushed to him with machines and closed the curtains around his bed. The curtain never opened again; no one told him a word, and she never saw him again.

"The bone that broke and ripped off my knee was infected at one point, they said they had to cut the leg, but I kept going. to hope that this would not happen and I had to undergo many surgeries.I had six surgeries in the first month.The doctors had to remove that and put that in. And each Once I had surgery, I was also afraid of losing my baby, "says Linda.

After a month in the hospital, Linda had to undergo an emergency caesarean section. eight months pregnant but her water was broken.

Despite her worries, the baby came out healthy … but she was overwhelmed by grief, unbearable pain in her leg and the responsibilities of the baby. To be a new mother, it was the tears she shed in the silence of the night that gave her a kind of comfort.

"I cry and cried at night. And I would have a brave smile when people would come to see me. But inside, I was weighed down by my troubles.

Void and pain haunted her during the five months she was admitted to the hospital while she was undergoing more surgeries and medical care for her leg.Although she had overwhelming support from family and friends who accompanied her throughout the trip she continued to struggle each day

"When my baby was born on May 6, a month after the accident, I was relieved to see her in good health.However, the leg injury was open and it was oozing a lot, which was causing me a lot of pain, and while I was going through this pain, I had to wake up all the time to feed the baby and take care of her. says Linda.

"At one point I asked God:" Why me? "

Lin da decided to focus on the baby. Even when she felt that she could not stand it anymore, she was pushing herself forward because of her daughter.

Linda's mother worked during the day and then went to the hospital to help her stay overnight. After a while, she got a cousin to help during the day.

Linda's family became the rock on which she relied even after leaving the hospital. Unable to walk around and carry her child, her family intervened and took care of Linda and the baby

C is the mother of Ian who took her into the internal healing process. She gave him advice, took the time to talk to her and helped her deal with what she was going through.

"It was hard, I was in mourning and she was crying. She continued to share her grief and I did not answer. One day, she brought her colleague adviser and it broke the ice. I felt comfortable talking to the professional. After a while, Ian's mother took over, "Linda explains her counseling path."

Linda admits that counseling is a never-ending process, two years later she is still looking for She says that although many people do not like it, she believes it now, which is what helped her cope and heal.

"I feel that I need to start moving forward. I want to go back to my work as a photographer. The doctor's report is that I am not completely cured, and I can not bend my leg but there is no pain in my leg now, "she says. "Emotionally, I'm not there yet but I'm better than before, and over time, I'll get where I want to be – a place where I'll wake up and not have it." the impression of being stuck.I will do this by continuing my advice, doing more and living for my daughter. "