Young African finds cancer cure in city

For Peter Kironji, a native of Nairobi, Kenya, who was diagnosed with stage-4 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, help came from unexpected quarters. The 25-year-old was treated for free at city’s HCG Hospital for seven months. Cured, he is set to head back home and start life afresh.

Kironji was 23 when he lost his father, the family’s solebread winner. The responsibility of looking after the family—a mother who is mentally ill, two brothers and a sister—fell on Kironji’s shoulders. He started working as a welder to make a living. Tragedy struck again in 2011, when Kironji was diagnosed with cancer.

Kironji’s condition was first diagnosed at a workshop when a friend spotted something protruding from his neck. “I consulted a nurse who advised me to go to the Mission Hospital for a checkup. I took a blood test and I was advised to undergo biopsy. However, with no money, I delayed the procedure for three weeks,” said Kironji, at a press conference organised by HCG Hospital on Friday.

“Meanwhile, the swelling increased in size. Finally my family and community members contributed to get the biopsy done when it was confirmed that the protrusion was a result of Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.”

Kironji was referred to Kenyatta National Hospital in Kenya where oncologists advised him to undergo six cycles of chemotherapy. “The drug alone would cost close 200,000 Kenyan shilling ($2,500). I knew I could never arrange that kind of money and was hopeless about getting treated,” he said.

Sometime later, Muthini, his sister, informed Kironji about an announcement in radio about oncologists from HCG visiting Nairobi and conducting a cancer detection and treatment camp. “I went to the camp, showed my reports to Dr Sridhar PS, consultant oncologist, HCG, and discussed my financial condition with him. He examined me, went through the reports and agreed to treat me for free in India. I soon came to Bangalore,” he said.