People learn from experience. When something happens to them and they feel either the joy or pain, it spurs them to do more. This is my situation. I have experienced deaths, the most devastating being the death of my youngest son Kane (Junior).
Kane Jacob Kane, named after his grandfather; thus fondly nicknamed “Dabang” (Elderly One), was my second to the last child among five siblings. He was a teenager, eighteen years old, in his final year in secondary school when he died. I lost him to the cold hands of death September 11, 2006; from a disease called “aplastic anemia.” This disease is of the cancer family, but it is not cancer per say. It is a very rare a disease that is often as a result of the failure of the bone marrow to produce healthy blood for the body to use. This therefore renders all efforts to make one live again almost impossible. Among its many symptoms, aplastic anemia is characterized by constant blood transfusion.
When Kane fell sick, my family and I suffered a lot in taking care of him. We were both spiritually and emotionally traumatized because of the sickness. We wondered what kind of sickness it was, and because it is a rare disease, the doctors did not detect it on time to arrest the situation before it became critical. When they finally did, we discovered that the disease was not only very difficult and expensive to manage, but my son had to be flown overseas for bone marrow transplant. My family and I tried to comply with his Doctors’ advice. We pulled resources both for his transportation and medical bill to take him to the United States of America but because of visa problems we could not: and he died.
Kane Junior was a very smart and intelligent child who excelled in all that he laid his hands on. He loved knowledge and set a record in class at his former secondary school that none could meet up to now. Dabang, a very ambitious and dynamic young leader, who wanted to become a pilot; but his dreams and life ambitions were cut short by aplastic anemia.
Loosing Dabang made me question God and my life all over, grieving his death has inspired me to look beyond my immediate pain to the future – to look to the younger generation as well as the generation yet unborn. As a widow, I thought of parents who are also widows and struggle alone to raise their children; some who are facing or will face similar challenges as mine. Being an ordained Minister, a trained Pastoral Counselor and Chaplain, the thought of starting a foundation in memory of my son came to mind. Yes a ministry that will care, help, support, counsel, raise awareness and educate; a vision which my family readily accepted and share.
My family and I have been touched by the lost of our loved One, we have been inspired to reach out and help those who are in need and the less privileged that are left to the mercy of fate that cripples and kills them prematurely. We invite you to join us on this journey of love, care and charity; a journey that will provide hope and healthy future for the younger generation, widows/widowers and their families. Invest on the less privileged people with real life problems and you will never regret it.
