'I'm Also a Cancer Survivor,' Winnie Bwire's Mom Mourns Daughter

21 September 2024

• Mama Bwire said her cancer was diagnosed in the early stages making it possible to cure it.

Winnie Bwire's mother has opened up about battling breast cancer. She said before her late daughter knew she had cancer, she too had been diagnosed with the same in 2015.

Mama Bwire said hers was in the early stages and was able to get cured.

"I am a breast cancer survivor in 2015, so this journey, I know it very well."

She went on to give her concerns of things she has noticed while being a caregiver to her late daugher.

"People are not getting awareness, I would like us or the government to put emphasis on the awareness as opposed to the treatment," she said

Adding "The relationship between the doctors and the cancer patient is not there because one doctor is attending to 16-20 people a day meaning you will not have a continuity with the doctor."

Childhood

While paying tribute to her daughter, Mama Bwire said she was a child who was peaceful, smart, clean and organized.

"She started acting when she was in kindergarten."

She opened up about bullying "she was bullied a lot because of her colour. Because she was dark, some people called her Sudanese, some called her Cheusi and she would cry when she was young but having been brought up with boys, she knew how to defend herself.

We bought her a doll that was dark, we wanted her to know that being African is so nice, she became confident in her skin.

Adulthood

She explained that as an adult, her daughter was a focused businessperson "she knew what she wanted to do. Immediately she graduated, she told me she will not be employed. She used to make gift cards to make money."

"In her adulthood, she became aware that she was beautiful. She wanted to become a star. Her highest achievement was in 'Sultana' with her character 'Dida' and it was almost her character. She was very creative."

"Her motto was kindness and she treated everyone with kindness. She treated everyone with respect even her house managers, even the boda boda and tuk tuk guys."

Legacy

Mama Bwire said the actress carried the cancer awareness programs.

"Not so many people have gone through cancer and spoken about it. They take it like a taboo. I have come to know that some of my aunties and cousins had gone through the journey and I had not known at all, out of that, they started to encourage her."

She spoke about a cancer foundation cancer, where Bwire was paying NHIF cover to people to give a hand to the society "She had a documentary for cancer patients, the family and caretaker. I am going to carry out that legacy and complete the work she started."

Sickness

When she was 14 years, she was tested and was found to have benign.

"Doctors said it will go way when she gets kids or when she goes up. She was warried because it kept growing."

"During corona, she realized all was not well because she would get her periods and have pain on her breast. It was confirmed it was cancer. After a year, she went public, what you don't know is she had been suffering for a long time."

At first she did eight rounds of chemo and oral therapy in Kenya. In Turkey, she was given nine rounds of Chemo and was still put on oral therapy before coming back to Kenya.

On the third month in Kenya she appealed for help and was able to go back to Turkey.

"When we went back she had really deteriorated and the doctor told us that things were not looking good and they were going to do their best."

She passed away while receiving treatment in Turkey.