Lydia, a 16-year-old student at Ng’iya Girls High, was sent home permanently due to her rare disorder, reports Daily Nation. Lydia suffers from a disease called Cord Ischemia, and the school fights that her need to be cared for is grander than what they can provide as a school and believe it is in her best interest and health, to get care at home.
Cord ischemia is a rare disorder that causes intense pain in body joints. When she’s experiencing this pain, she visits the nurse and rests for some time. More recently she was recovering from a malaria attack and needed much more attention from the nurse. While the school and nurse had informed her she was indeed improving, without informing her, they packed her belongings and sent her home. It just so happened to be a day when the weather was dangerous and they called for her mother to come pick her up. When that didn’t happen, to their surprise, Lydia was dropped off at home.
The school’s principal didn’t feel it was the best condition for her to be in considering the intensity of her episodes and pain. When an episode comes about, it takes focused care for 4-5 days and the nurse can’t provide attentive care to only to Lydia when she has 1,000 other students to care for.
While the school feels limited in its ability to care for Lydia, Lydia’s mother Jane Odero feels it’s completely unfair and unjust to expel Lydia for her disease. She should have the same rights of any other student and not be limited because of her condition. Dr. Owour from Aga Khan Hospital reiterated her ischemia disease, and also informed them that she is a sickle-cell carrier. While she does indeed have these limitations and occasionally will require extra care, he shared she should be allowed to continue her schooling like normal.
