This archive report was first published on 2 July 2019.
On August 2017, Bob Collymore, the former CEO of Safaricom, sat down with Citizen TV to share his story of battling Acute Myeloid Leukemia, a rare form of blood cancer. Collymore's journey began when he was referred to a London hospital from Nairobi Hospital, where he had been experiencing symptoms of the disease for months.
Collymore told Citizen TV that he had been feeling tired and experiencing fever on and off for a while, but it wasn't until he visited a doctor in Nairobi that he was diagnosed with the disease. The doctor initially thought he was Vitamin D deficient, but further tests revealed that he had Acute Myeloid Leukemia.
Collymore underwent 30 blood tests at Nairobi Hospital, which showed that something was wrong with his blood. He was then admitted to the hospital and later referred to a hospital in London for further treatment. It was there that he was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia.
The condition meant that Collymore's body wasn't producing white blood cells, which made his immune system weak and unable to fight infections. He was told that he would undergo treatment for six to nine months, but the journey was not without its challenges.
Collymore spent nine months and two weeks in the hospital, including seven weeks in isolation. He spent most of his time reading and staying in touch with the Safaricom office in Nairobi. Despite the challenges, Collymore remained hopeful and continued to fight the disease.
He said that cancer is a terrible word, and anyone who is told they have the disease responds in a different way. Collymore's former wife and one of his sisters are cancer survivors, and he reflected on the fact that Acute Myeloid Leukemia usually occurs late in life, but he got it slightly earlier at 60 years.
One of the many things Collymore said he reflected upon a lot while undergoing treatment was what happens to poor Kenyans who suffer from such illnesses, considering the prohibitive cost of treatment. He said that many people are dying in Kenya and around the world because of lack of diagnosis.
At the time of the interview, Collymore said there were six of his colleagues at Safaricom or their spouses undergoing cancer treatment. The disease required him to make certain lifestyle changes, such as staying away from social gatherings to avoid any infection.
Collymore was grateful for the overwhelming support he received from Kenyans while ill. He received goodwill messages from ordinary citizens, Muslim and Christian clerics, politicians, and business leaders. He said that cancer is not a death sentence and once one is diagnosed, they should remain hopeful and believe in the treatment.
