East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) MP David Ole Sankok has shared a deeply personal account of a traumatic experience during his medical training that he says nearly ended his career in medicine.
In a reflective statement, Sankok recounted his days as a medical student at the University of Nairobi while attached to the casualty department at Kenyatta National Hospital.
He described the incident as his lowest moment and a defining experience in understanding the harsh realities faced by medical practitioners.
According to Sankok, the incident occurred one night following a grisly road accident along Thika Road, when multiple casualties were rushed to the hospital.
The casualty unit was overwhelmed, filled with sirens, screams, and urgent medical activity.
He admitted that, as a young trainee overwhelmed by the chaos, he positioned himself outside the emergency unit hoping to attend to a less critically injured patient.
He eventually chose a man who appeared stable and was able to walk, assuming his injuries were minor after noticing blood in his gumboots.
Sankok said he made a critical error by failing to conduct a full head-to-toe examination. The patient struggled to speak and appeared weak, which he initially attributed to shock.
Moments later, the man pleaded for help, prompting Sankok to reassess him thoroughly. He discovered the true source of bleeding — a severed carotid artery in the neck caused by a shard of vehicle glass.
Despite attempting to stem the bleeding and calling for assistance amid the chaos, the patient died in his arms from massive blood loss.
Sankok said the incident haunted him for months, leaving him consumed by guilt and nearly prompting him to abandon his medical studies.
He even considered switching to civil engineering before ultimately deciding to continue with medicine.
He later completed his training and opened private clinics across Narok County and surrounding areas, beginning with a modest setup under a tree in Suswa.
Sankok says the painful experience shaped his resilience and commitment to saving lives, describing it as the moment he was “baptized into the challenging journey” of the medical profession.