This archive report was first published on 22 May 2020.
On May 22, 2020, Phil Karanja, husband to influencer and actress Catherine Kamau, aka Kate Actress, shared his harrowing near-death experience on Abel Mutua's YouTube channel.
At the time, Karanja was a student at the Kenyan Institute of Mass Communication (KIMC), where he led a battalion in a fight against Kenya Polytechnic (TUK) students.
"In 2007, while studying at KIMC, Kenya Poly students started throwing stones at our hostels, and then KIMC students got angry and went to their school, and it became a war," Karanja recalled.
According to Karanja, he was hit on the head with a stone before he could throw one, leaving him with a permanent scar on one side of his face.
"We went to their territory, and I was David, and they were Goliath. I am left-handed, and before I could throw a stone, I was hit on the head," Karanja said. "I just saw black. To date, one side of my face has never been the same like before," he added. "I was taken to the school nurse for first aid before I got to the hospital, but I can't remember everything," Karanja said.
Despite the traumatic experience, Karanja has moved on and is now working on a comedy series, 'Anda Kava,' with his friend Abel Mutua, which airs on Maisha Magic.
