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One Wednesday afternoon, Nguru visited the Kibera Health Centre, which is supported by Tulisa, and described her health problem to the doctors there:
Her eyesight had been deteriorating for years, to the point where she could recently only count the fingers on a hand held out towards her from a distance of 1 metre. This meant she was extremely short-sighted and, in effect, blind.
The examination revealed that she had keratoconus in both eyes, i.e. a progressive thinning and cone-shaped deformation of the cornea.
We subsequently referred Nguru to the ophthalmology department at Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi, where she was seen by the senior German ophthalmologist, Dr Martin Kollmann. He confirmed the diagnosis and, given the severity of her condition, recommended a corneal transplant. Unfortunately, keratoconus is a rare condition that requires specialist care. Dr Kollmann is one such specialist, but the chances of finding a donor cornea in Kenya are limited.
Acting swiftly, he contacted Mr Klaus Renken of Cornea-Help e.V. Wiesmoor (www.cornea-help.de) and, together with him, organised treatment at the specialist Aravind Eye Hospital in Madurai, India. However, the journey did not turn out to be as straightforward as expected: language difficulties, unforeseen administrative hurdles during entry and exit, and the resulting missed flights posed a significant threat to the operation and post-operative care. Cornea Help acted swiftly and without red tape, covering not only the treatment costs but also the cost of the additional flight tickets required at short notice, on top of the original ones; as a result, Nguru was finally able to undergo successful surgery on one eye in India. The other eye is also due to be operated on later, once the surgical wound has healed.
Tulisa would like to thank everyone involved and is almost as delighted as Nguru herself that she can see again!