From spinal TB to ICU: How sitting in one position almost killed me

In June this year, Ibrahim Mungai was rushed to Mbagathi County Referral Hospital in Nairobi in a critical state.

“I was not eating. I was urinating blood. I could not talk. I believed I was dying,” he tells Health & Science.

Doctors at Mbagathi quickly referred him to Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), as his condition was beyond their capacity. “Soon after I arrived at KNH, I fell into a coma, which lasted three days,” he recalls.

Tests revealed that Mungai, 52, had suffered acute kidney failure.

“His kidneys had completely shut down. They were not removing toxins from his body, which is what kidneys are supposed to do. The toxins built up, and that is what sent him into the coma,” says Dr Hussein Anwar, an internal medicine resident at KNH, one of the doctors attending to him.

“Where did my kidney failure come from?” Mungai still wonders to this day.

According to Anwar, Mungai’s kidney failure was triggered by a severe infection originating from pressure sores.

He explains: “When you are bedridden and unable to move about, as Mungai was, you end up sitting on one spot for long periods. This puts immense pressure on that area, restricting blood flow to the skin and underlying tissue.”

“When blood flow is compromised, the skin and tissues beneath begin to die. That is how pressure sores develop. Initially, the wounds are superficial, but without immediate care, they deepen and worsen,” he adds.

Pressure sores contain dead skin. Anwar notes that dead skin “is a perfect breeding ground for infection.”

Mungai’s sores became infected, which led to a life-threatening infection that ultimately caused his kidneys to fail.

The remarkable twist in Mungai’s story is that he was not born paraplegic. He crawled, took his first steps, and walked throughout adolescence and into adulthood. In 2004, he was diagnosed with spinal tuberculosis (TB). He had experienced pain and tightness in his backbone before the diagnosis.

“I went to KNH for treatment. The doctor recommended surgery. I still remember walking into theatre on my own two legs. It was during that surgery that I lost my ability to walk,” he says.

Life, he reflects, is unpredictable: one day you are walking, the next, you are not. “TB is an unusual disease. It can affect any part of the body except the nails. Pulmonary TB affects the lungs, which most people know about. But TB can also be extra-pulmonary, affecting other parts of the body. It spreads mainly via inhaled droplets. Once in the body, bacteria can seep into the bloodstream and travel elsewhere — in Mungai’s case, to the spine,” Anwar explains.

Spinal tuberculosis, or Pott’s disease, is an extrapulmonary TB infection where Mycobacterium tuberculosis attacks the vertebrae, usually spreading from the lungs through the bloodstream.
Pott’s disease, medically called spinal TB, occurs when Mycobacterium tuberculosis infects the spine, often travelling from the lungs via the bloodstream.

After the surgery, Mungai returned home and spent most of his time in bed, healing physically while coming to terms with life as a paraplegic.

“I started repairing shoes to earn a living. I became a cobbler. But now that I could not walk, wherever I was seated, I would remain ‘stuck’ for long stretches of time.”

Pressure sores became part of his life. Somehow, he survived two decades without major incidents. That changed towards the end of last year when he grew increasingly ill. He managed his declining health by visiting a nearby dispensary for prescription drugs, mostly painkillers.

“I kept doing that, but I was getting worse. In June, my health took a serious turn. My urine turned blue. When I drank milk, I urinated milk. I lost my appetite, stopped eating, and even stopped talking. That is when my relatives rushed me to Mbagathi Hospital,” he recalls.

His recovery has been nothing short of a miracle. While in the coma, Mungai had to undergo intensive dialysis. He regained consciousness afterwards. But then he also needed further medical procedures.

Groin infection

He underwent a two-hour surgery on August 4, 2025, to arrest a scrotal infection, part of the cascading effects of the pressure sores infection.

“Because his kidneys were failing, his immunity was suppressed, allowing infection to develop around the groin. The groin is highly vulnerable due to warmth and proximity to body waste-urine and stool,” explains Anwar.

The scrotum infection affected the skin, Anwar says; “Once the skin is dead we cannot let it stay there because it will only serve to propagate the infection. We had to be remove the dead skin.”

“Because it is such a sensitive area, the operation had to be precise, preserving as much skin as possible to cover the testicles,” he adds.

During the surgery, doctors also discovered a urethral blockage. They created a new path for urine directly from the bladder to an exit on the skin. He now has a catheter draining urine directly into an external bag.

Despite the trauma, Mungai’s spirit remains unbroken. He describes the care and dedication of the KNH team as life-saving. “The doctors and nurses were angels to me. Every procedure, every dialysis session, brought me closer to life again,” he says.

A native of Kikuyu, Kiambu County, Mungai is simply grateful to be alive. Though still frail and receiving care at KNH, he hopes to be discharged soon to resume his life. “I will return to work as a cobbler,” he says. “I just need a suitable wheelchair to meet my needs and reduce the risk of pressure sores.”

Mungai believes that being alive today is nothing short of a miracle. “If anyone tells me life isn’t precious, I will show them mine. Every breath, every step I used to take, every moment alive now is a gift.”