ODM leader Raila Odinga has broken his silence about his firstborn daughter, Rosemary Odinga’s illness that has left partially blind.
Speaking to Citizen TV on Thursday, the former Prime Minister said that Rosemary underwent a 10-hour operation at the Peking University, China, a procedure he believes saved her life.
Ms Odinga had prior to this operation, unsuccessfully undergone treatment in Israel and South Africa.
“The therapist discovered something was not adding up. So he took a scan and discovered an aneurysm, which had burst and was recurring. There was another one next to it and a tumour,” he said.
So serious was her case that she was immediately taken to Beijing for treatment.
Doctors examined the mother of 2 for close to two days and later performed a “three in one operation.”
“They took two days examining her, then they decided to do a three-in-one operation … about 10 professors…It lasted about 10 hours. By the time they wheeled her out of the theatre, she was conscious and she could talk,” the African Union Special Envoy for Infrastructure added.
Rosemary, 42, was in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for about three hours before being transferred to the general ward.
So quick was her recovery that twelve days after being airlifted, she had been operated on, rehabilitated, discharged and flown back to Kenya.
Though her eyesight remains foggy, Rosemary has chosen to fight and stay strong for her children.
Three weeks ago she told Citizen TV’s Victoria Rubadiri that trouble started last year at a workshop for women political aspirants in Naivasha.
“My year has been great so far. I thank the Lord for all the blessings. My family and my friends have also been wonderful to me. I can’t really complain. I take a day at a time,” she said.
Undeterred by her situation, Ms Odinga still hopes to seek an elective position should the people give her a chance.