Barbra’s story is told by Claytone Musungu, Chair of the CoMO Advisory Council and trustee for Meningitis Research Foundation:
Babra Kayalo, from Kajiado County, Kenya, was born a healthy child on June 1st, 2009, and is the firstborn in a family of three. However, at just three months old, her mother noticed that it was difficult to make her sit, and she frequently experienced convulsions.
When Babra was two years old, she developed a fever. Her mother took her to a local dispensary where she was prescribed medication, but her condition worsened. Desperate for answers, her mother took her to Kenyatta National Hospital, where doctors performed a spinal fluid test. The results confirmed that Babra had meningitis. Tragically, she has never walked or talked since.
Babra is a very jovial girl, always laughing when people make jokes, as you can see from the picture. Her mother says, from her observation, she really loves music and would have been a musician if she were not in this condition.
Barbra’s experience was one of the many cases that inspired Claytone to co-found the Meningitis Awareness Foundation. Learn more about his motivations in his Meningitis in your words entry here.