Maria M (not her real name), is a 45-year-old Kenyan woman in the US.
She is currently grappling with shocking news that has left her thanking God for sparing her life.
Maria is stuck in New York unable to be with her family because of the coronavirus pandemic that has seen the Kenyan government bar all passenger flights from landing in the country.
She is in shock after learning of the death of a KQ pilot who died on Thursday April 2. He tested positive for coronavirus.
“It is one of the saddest news I’ve seen today,” she tells me via Skype.
Government directive
Maria had travelled to the US for business.
Unfortunately, she had to cut short her trip and frantically try to get back home before the Government deadline of barring international flights.
If things had worked out, she would have been on the same flight with the late Captain Daudi Kimuyu Kibati.
“Monday March 23rd was my birthday. I spent the day trying everything I could to get a flight to get back to Kenya to see my children. Emirates took me round and round various airports in the US but all flights were cancelled!!” reminisces Maria.
“I was very angry and frustrated because I couldn’t get a seat on KQ. I was also disappointed because all my efforts were fruitless.”
Switched off her phone for a day
After reaching a dead end, on Tuesday 24th, Maria switched off her phone so she could deal with the reality that she wasn’t going to be reunited with her family anytime soon.
Maria is a mother of five children aged between five and 18 years.
“Little did I know that staying off my phone was God’s protection!” Maria says.
After sulking the whole day, the next morning she switched on her phone, only to find thousands of calls from the KQ office and friends and family.
They were calling to inform her about the FREE KQ flight that was leaving for Kenya on 24th.
As our last flight departs JFK today, we are offering one-way complimentary tickets to Nairobi, to Kenyan citizens in urgent need. Please contact our team on +1(866)5369224 for more information. *All passengers will be subjected to entry/screening procedures instituted by the MOH pic.twitter.com/LNmUbpVGGY
— Kenya Airways (@KenyaAirways) March 24, 2020
“What? A free flight on the one day that I was offline? Clearly God didn’t want me on that flight!”
After missing the flight, Maria surrendered and accepted the situation and reality that she will be in New York for a while.
Sad news
This morning, Maria woke up to shocking news – courtesy of her husband.“My husband sent me a news link saying the very pilot who was supposed to fly the (KQ) plane I missed has died of coronavirus,” she says amidst sobs.
This was too much for Maria to handle. She broke down and cried for an hour. Even her husband (who calls her every morning), was unable to console her.
People on quarantine test positive
On Thursday April 2, the Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe revealed that several people who are in mandatory quarantine had tested positive to coronavirus.
“Twenty-three (23) of the confirmed cases were detected in the designated quarantine facilities,” said Kagwe.
Those on the KQ flight were among those who were put on mandatory quarantine when they arrived in Kenya.“What I thought was a frustration was protection. But I am crushed to hear about the death of Captain Daudi. I didn’t know him personally but I’ve mourned him so much like he was my son,” she says.
Miracle to be alive
Maria says she is praying for all those passengers who flew in with the KQ flight and have now tested positive.“May they get healed soon. May God bless them all. The lesson I have learnt today is to just be still in God. Even when things don’t go our way, we never know what we are being saved from. Be still. You never know what’s happening behind the scenes!”
Second near death experience
Maria says this experience has brought back dark memories of another near death experience she went through eight years ago.“I was in ICU, in a coma and on full life support. My family was told to switch off the machine.”
The doctors attending to her gave up and said they could no longer do anything for her as she was as good as dead.
This coronavirus experience has brought back the memories and made her very emotional.“I thank God I am alive and well. I can only imagine what the people who are in forced quarantine are going through. It must be very tough for them and their families,” she says.
Life in New York
Although Maria is miles away from Kenya and her family, she has been in self quarantine from March 15.
She has not exhibited any signs of coronavirus.
How is she keeping sane? She says she is reading positive material – spiritual and philosophical, and engaging with like minded positive people.“I am also limiting the time I spend on social or mainstream media. Above all, I am praying and reading God’s word.”
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