City student with rare disease in need of help – PHOTOS
A university student has been diagnosed with a rare disease that affects the body’s immune system and currently admitted at a city hospital is in need of help.
Hellen Nyanchama Manwari, a third year Bachelor of Education student at Tangaza College University in Karen, has been diagnosed with Guillain–Barré Syndrome (GBS).
It is a rare disease that is characterised by a rapid onset of muscle weakness. Only one or two cases are reported for every 100,000 people in the world yearly.
Curing the disease can take months to years, with a weekly dose of medicine costing over Sh100,000.
Her elder sister, Priscila Manwari, said Hellen started chocking while in her parents’ house in Kamulu on August, 7. She was rushed to Mama Lucy Hospital but the tests were inconclusive.
Ten days later, she was weak and could not walk. She was taken to St Francis Hospital in Kasarani and admitted. Hours later, her parents – who are retired teachers – were called and told that their daughter’s condition was worsening and she needed to be taken to a hospital with an ICU bed.
Kenyatta National Hospital ICU beds were full at the time and the only place they could find a vacancy was Metropolitan Hospital in Buruburu.
She has since slipped into a coma.
The family is appealing to well-wishers to help them pay the hospital bill which they cannot afford. According to Ms Manwari, the bill has Sh720,000 and they have been able to pay only Sh120,000.
The family has set up an M-Pesa paybill number 988562, account name Hellen. The sister can be reached at 0724 271628.
Guillain–Barré Syndrome symptoms develop over hours to a few weeks during the acute phase. It can be life-threatening with about 15% of patients developing weakness of the breathing muscles requiring mechanical ventilation. The cause is unknown.
