On 20 November 2018, Mary Mutua’s KCPE results brought relief to Coast General Hospital, where the 14-year-old was recovering under a white sheet and facing a far bigger fight than exams.
The Amani Primary School candidate scored 415 marks out of 500 in the 2018 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education, finishing as the best performer at her school despite being diagnosed with bone marrow cancer only weeks before the test.
Mary said her performance came from persistence. “It was by sheer hard work and determination,” she said.
Her father, Josephat Mutua, said the family was celebrating her marks while also struggling with the pain she was enduring. “I am happy because she did well. But I am sad she has to undergo such pain,” he said.
According to her uncle, Eric Kyalo, doctors warned that Mary could lose her leg if treatment was delayed. He said the first signs appeared about a month before the exams, when she complained of pain in her left leg. The family initially assumed it was a routine ache.
The condition was later confirmed after she was seen by a specialist at Aga Khan Plaza. Even after the diagnosis, Mary continued sitting for the KCPE while taking painkillers and relying on her father to carry her to and from school each day because she could only walk about 50 metres before the pain became too much.
Kyalo said the family was devastated when they learned she had cancer. “She started feeling pain in her left leg about a month before the exams. At first we thought it was normal pains,” he said. He added that Mary cried for two consecutive days after the news broke.
The family has been advised to take her to India within three weeks for further treatment, at an estimated cost of Sh3 million. So far, they say they have raised about Sh700,000 and are appealing for help from friends and well-wishers to save her leg and her life.
To collect donations, the family has opened Paybill number 127506 under the account name Mary.
Mary said the diagnosis was difficult to accept at first, but her relatives helped her regain her confidence. “It is hard at first. But then my family convinced me this disease is treatable and that I will be okay. That is when I regained my confidence and composure,” she said.
She said she had hoped for a higher score, adding that time spent in hospital affected her preparation. “I spent a lot of time in hospital while preparing for the exam. That contributed to this performance. I believe I would have gotten more mark,” she said.
Mary wants to become a lawyer and says she looks up to Paul Musyoki, a top lawyer in Mombasa. She has appealed to well-wishers to help her reach that goal.
The 2018 KCPE results also showed a sharp rise in top scores nationally. A record 12,273 candidates scored 400 marks and above, while 228,414 scored between 301 and 400 marks and 574,927 fell in the 201 to 300 range. Another 234,573 candidates scored between 101 and 200 marks, and 2,177 of the 1,052,364 candidates who sat the exam scored below 100 marks. Kenya National Examination Council data showed the number of candidates scoring above 400 marks rose by 2,427 compared with the previous year.
Mary’s result was announced after Education CS Amina Mohamed released the 2018 KCPE results on Monday.
