Story by Sherine Atieno and Photos by Ondari Ogega
At Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching & Referral Hospital’s (JOOTRH) Ward 3, life moves at its usual pace—nurses making their rounds, patients receiving visitors, and children whispering softly to their parents. Amid this seemingly ordinary atmosphere, a quiet story of resilience unfolds. Sitting patiently by her son’s bedside, Agnes Juma from Gem, Siaya, holds onto hope as her 14-year-old boy, Collince Ochiel, prepares for a life-changing neurosurgical procedure during the ongoing neurosurgical camp.
For Agnes, the journey has been long and painful. Her son’s struggles began in infancy. At just three months old, Collince started experiencing convulsions. At first, doctors treated the episodes as cerebral malaria, and hospital visits became a routine part of their lives. “He could hardly go a month without falling ill,” Agnes recalls. By the age of three, she knew something was deeply wrong.
When he turned seven, Agnes noticed her son’s left eye was no longer perceiving vision. “It worried me, but I thought maybe he was born that way,” she says. Doctors later recommended glasses, but as a mother, she hesitated—her little boy seemed too small to manage them. Over time, Collince’s body revealed more signs of neurological distress. His right hand and leg weakened, his smile slanted to one side, and even simple tasks like eating showed an unusual preference for his left hand.
Now in Grade 9, Collince has faced even more setbacks. For an entire school term, he could not take notes in class. Unaware of his struggles, teachers punished him for his inactivity, until his parents discovered the truth. In May this year, worried and desperate for answers, Agnes sought help at a nearby dispensary. The case was referred to the Siaya County Referral Hospital, where a CT scan revealed a large brain mass.
The results were heartbreaking yet clarifying. The scan showed a predominantly cystic mass in the left temporal lobe, measuring 87mm by 52mm, with a solid enhancing component of 30mm by 18mm. The growth had already caused significant pressure on his brain, displacing vital structures and resulting in a midline shift of 16mm. The radiologists concluded that Collince was suffering from pilocytic astrocytoma, a type of brain tumor.
Further tests at a private hospital in Kisumu, confirmed the findings. An MRI scan revealed a large cystic mass extending into the left anterior and middle cerebral fossa, compressing adjacent brain tissue. Doctors noted that the tumour was pressing against critical areas that control movement and vision, explaining his right-sided weakness and left-sided blindness. The diagnosis: craniopharyngioma versus pilocytic astrocytoma. Either way, the tumour required urgent neurosurgical intervention.
That intervention has finally arrived. Collince is one of the 41 patients scheduled for surgery at JOOTRH during the neurosurgical camp running from September 8th to 18th. Coordinated by Dr. Walter Adero and Dr. Lee Ogutha of JOOTRH, the camp is a collaborative effort between the Kisumu Neuroscience Initiative and a visiting team of neurosurgical specialists from the United States, including Dr. Bethwel Raore.
As the first two patients entered the operating room today and nine more await their turn in the wards, the camp symbolizes more than just medical intervention. It is a testament to what partnerships, compassion, and skill can achieve in transforming lives.
For Collince, tomorrow could mark the beginning of a new chapter—one where illness no longer defines his childhood, and where dreams of a normal life once again seem possible.
