It was around 7:30pm when Charles Kamau, a 49-year-old truck driver, arrived at his home in Gatong’ora, Ruiru, Kiambu County. As usual, he hooted at the gate, and his wife Margaret Wambui and their daughter Lynn Wanjiku stepped out to open it.
Just as Kamau drove into the compound, screams pierced the evening calm. He rushed out of his car—only to find three young men had stormed the gate and ordered his wife and daughter to the ground at gunpoint.
“As a father and husband, I acted on instinct. I grabbed one of the attackers, unaware he was armed,” Kamau recalls.
That decision nearly cost him his life.
The assailant opened fire, unloading 13 bullets. Kamau was shot in the abdomen, shoulder, and thigh. He collapsed in agony. His daughter was also shot in the thigh before the attackers fled. The gunmen were never caught.
Margaret quickly called for help. A neighbour joined her, and they rushed Kamau to a nearby hospital in Ruiru. Due to the severity of his injuries, he was referred to MP Shah Hospital in Nairobi, where doctors performed emergency surgery that lasted eight hours. Twelve bullets were removed; one remained unnoticed in his thigh until 2018.
The road to recovery was brutal.
Kamau spent weeks in intensive and high-dependency care. Complications followed, including kidney failure, blocked veins, and leg paralysis. He underwent several more surgeries and began dialysis. The ordeal kept him bedridden for three years.
The financial toll was devastating. The family surrendered their land title to the hospital and borrowed Sh500,000 from their church Sacco. The total medical bill exceeded Sh8 million.
“My wife became the breadwinner while I fought for my life,” Kamau says.
Against the odds, he eventually regained his strength and returned to work as a long-distance truck driver to support his family and repay debts.
Today, Kamau shares his testimony with gratitude.
“People had given up on me,” he says. “But I’m alive because God had other plans. I hold no grudges—only thanks.”
