Capital FM ‘touching hearts’ 11 years on

Mater Hospital’s Marketing Director Lawrence Muiga said the contribution Capital FM has made to the run for close to two decades has also gone a long way in not only remedying heart complications but lessening chances of occurrence/CFM

While receiving a token of appreciation from the run’s organisers on Tuesday, Capital Group’s Managing Director Cyrus Kamau said the company was proud to be associated with the difference the run has made to the lives of over 3,000 children suffering from heart complications over the years.

“We have been with them since inception and last year we helped them raise Sh61 million. This year,” he said, “our target is Sh70 million.”

Mater Hospital’s Marketing Director Lawrence Muiga said the contribution Capital FM has made to the run for close to two decades has also gone a long way in not only remedying heart complications but lessening chances of occurrence.

“Heart surgery costs hundreds of thousands of shillings but it costs only a few hundred shillings to prevent rheumatic heart disease by purchasing antibiotics for sore throats. And while the surgeries we do are what get the most publicity, we also go around the country, schools, educating people on this. In this process we’ve also screened tens of thousands of children for heart disease,” he explained.

Speaking to Capital FM News last year, 11-year-old Felix Ouma said he didn’t know he was born with a hole in his heart until Mater Hospital held a medical camp at his orphanage.

“I used to have constant headaches, sweat a lot and have such laboured breathing that I could not play.”

Felix is one of the 231 children who benefitted from the proceeds of the 2013 run and, “now I don’t get as tired easily,” he testified.

READ: Machakos County joins in the Mater Heart Run

The hospital hopes to help 250 more children this year after adding Machakos and Kisumu last year to Nairobi, Mumias and Mombasa as the list of places where the run takes place.

“We managed to attract 2,500 in Kisumu and 1,500 in Machakos. This year we hope to consolidate those gains,” Muiga said.

The Mater Heart Run is traditionally held in the month of May with T-shirts, shorts, hats and bands available for sale at Nakumatt and Innscor outlets.

About The Author

OLIVE BURROWS

With a decade of storytelling under her belt, Olive Burrows has been with Capital FM for the last four years and perhaps most notably interviewed US President Barack Obama. Committed to asking the hard questions and telling the story in the most engaging way possible, she has also interviewed Melinda Gates, a UK Minister and severally had the opportunity to sit across from President Uhuru Kenyatta and address the pressing issues of the day. Other notables she has had occasion to seek answers from are UN Secretary General António Guterres and John Kerry in his time as US Secretary of State.

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