Woman: I prayed for death to end my brother’s pain

The strangest feeling you will ever have is wishing for the death of someone you love. Maybe it is the only option you are left with after seeing them suffer in pain during illness.

You want them to be free of pain. This is how Emily Mwagharo felt as she watched her brother die of oesophageal cancer, the latest and fourth of four family deaths of cancer.

She is living in Nairobi, her family lives in Taita Taveta.

“Cancer robbed me of my mum and brother. Their deaths really pained me,” Mwagharo told the Star. She could not hide her pain.

“My mother got ill with liver cancer when I was pregnant. She breathed her last the moment I delivered my daughter who is now 15 years old,” she said.

In 1998, her niece succumbed to liver cancer, just like her mother, before her step-sister lost the battle with lymph cancer in 2018.

The latest death was that of her brother of oesophageal cancer in November 2024 in a Nairobi hospital. He was diagnosed in July.

This cancer develops when abnormal cells in the oesophagus or food pipe multiply and form a tumour. The oesophagus, also known as the gullet, is a muscular tube that carries food and drink from the mouth to the stomach.

“My brother was diagnosed with Stage Three oesophageal cancer after several tests. We started treatment in Mombasa before he was referred to Nairobi as he was not responding to treatment,” she said.

“I used to take him for chemotherapy in Upper Hill, then radiotherapy in Westlands. The doctor recommended we use a tube to feed him. He experienced continuous coughs before breathing his last,” Mwagharo recalled.

As with other families caring for cancer patients, attempting to save her brother’s life drained the family both mentally and financially.

Mwagharo, who lives in Ruaka, was tasked with looking after the treatment of her brother in Nairobi because she was the only one in the city as other family members are at the Coast.

“The pain your loved one goes through as they battle cancer is the same pain you also go through when you look after them. When they are unable to take food, you also don’t take food. You feel helpless,” she said.

“It was a really stressful time. Sometimes we just say let him rest because he really suffered. In the last month before he died, he could not eat or drink anything, he was just there,” Mwagharo said.

She said the family sold properties, including livestock, to pay his medical bills. They spent almost Sh1 million on his treatment.

Cancer cases around the world are expected to surge by 77 per cent by 2050, the World Health Organization estimates.

This figure is based on an analysis of 185 countries and cites an increased aging population and factors such as tobacco, alcohol and obesity.

The survey shows most countries do not adequately prioritise and finance cancer treatment and palliative care services as part of universal health coverage (UHC).

In 2022, there were an estimated 20 million new cancer cases and 9.7 million deaths. An estimated 53.5 million people survived for five years and were cancer-free following a cancer diagnosis.

About one in five people develop cancer, about one in nine men and one in 12 women die from the disease.

The global WHO survey on UHC and cancer showed that only 39 per cent of participating countries covered the basics of cancer management as part of their financed core health services for all citizens.

“The statistics by the WHO have already caused alarm because the numbers are huge, however I feel we are getting better at diagnosis, meaning we will be able to catch most of these cancers early if we do the right things, including early screening,” oncologist Dulcie Wanda said.

“We are seeing the cancer levels on the rise because we are having a more sedentary lifestyle; people are sitting more, exercising less and we are consuming more processed foods. Our lifestyle has a lot of alcohol and cigarette smoking,” Dr Wanda said.

The cancer burden continues to grow globally, imposing tremendous physical, emotional and financial strain on individuals, families, communities and health systems.