Esther Moraa is a young vibrant 8 year old girl who has experienced a life changing situation that would affect a person of any age. On the fateful morning of 3rd September 2014, Esther rode safely under the care of her father on his “bodaboda” as he took her to school. Little did she know how the events would take a turn for the worst. As they approached a roundabout, the motorcycle went off. Her father began backpedal ling the bike to safety but an out of control truck was approaching. Hiving no time to react or scamper for safety, the truck rammed into them hurling Esther and her father away. The shock of what had just happened left her dazed as good Samaritans flooded the scene to try and retrieve her father from under the motorcycle. She tried calling him but he did not respond.
Esther was then whisked away to Neema hospital where she was further referred to Gertrude’s Children’s hospital. Meanwhile, her mother received a call from a stranger who insisted that she should make way to the accident location because her daughter was injured. Sensing danger, she quickly found her way only to find blood flowing from where a crowd was gathered. She confirmed her worst fears that her husband had not survived the crash. She rushed with the police to Gertrude’s after confirming that Esther had been admitted there. Esther was getting pale and her stomach had begun to swell. She seemed fine but there was something seriously wrong. Her mother, Angeline wanted to transfer her to a government hospital because she was already going to incur funeral expenses.
The doctors convinced her to let them conduct further tests because Esther was not stable. They decided to put her on blood transfusion because she had lost a lot of blood due to the internal bleeding. She had ruptured a vein that is connected to her liver as well as badly damaging the liver itself. This meant that she had to be rushed to surgery before drowning in her own blood. Luckily the body cleared the blood by itself as she was kept under observation in the Critical care unit (CCU). Four days later, the liver had clotted and she didn’t need to undergo surgery anymore. She was transferred to the general ward where she slowly gained strength to walk. Angeline deliberated on how to tell her daughter that her father was no more because she was very fond of him. With the help of a psychosocial counselor, she broke down the news to her much to her devastation. She had to tell her because the funeral was coming up.
Esther was discharged fully recovered except for a slight limp. Her mother thanked the Gertrude’s Hospital Foundation for taking care of Esther’s needs and bills. “If it wasn’t for you, I would have been dealing with two loses today”. The month of November has the road safety week from the 10th to the 16th where crash victims commemorate the day as well as remember their lost loved ones. Esther’s story was aired on Good news broadcasting system (GBS) on the 16th of November. The interview featured a jovial Esther who narrates the fateful day as she plays with her siblings. Since then, she has fully recovered and has gotten over her grief. This year there has been a lot of focus on amendment of the traffic bill to accommodate more of children’s needs. The Gertrude’s Hospital Foundation fully supports the traffic (Amendment) bill 2014 which will see a lot of safety requirements implemented in public transport and near schools. #30SavesKids .
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