Nankabirwa died with dignity - parish priest
Nankabirwa’s father Brian Kabunga and siblings listen to mother Rebecca Kibirige eulogise her at the requiem mass at Christ the King Church yesterday.
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Eulogised. Mourners tell of the pain Nankabirwa bore during her sickness
Kampala.
“Forgive and learn to love one another. When Jesus says yes, nobody can say no,” these were some of Rosemary Nankabirwa’s last words as told by her best friend, Rhoda Nabankema who was at her bedside at the Aga Khan Hospital in Nairobi.
At the requiem mass held at Christ-the King Church in Kampala, for the repose of the soul of the pioneer NTV news anchor, hundreds of mourners drowned in tears and prayer, eulogising Nankabirwa.
Media personalities, government, family members, medics, entrepreneurs and friends filled the Church to capacity, with some sitting outside in the marquees. A sombre mood engulfed the church when the pall bearers took the casket containing the remains of Nankabirwa into the church.
The parish priest at Christ the King Church, Msgr Gerald Kalumba, described Nankabirwa as a prayerful person who never missed mass and sometimes taking readings. “She was fairly young but she perhaps achieved much. Such moments are difficult to manage because they come abruptly,” Msgr Kalumba said as an eerie of silence gripped the church.
He added: “A priest from here met her in London and was surprised to see her attend mass everyday, a young lady among old people. There is something from this young lady that you, young people should emulate. That to be young doesn’t mean to be stubborn and hopeless.” “During the ended period of lent, she was in pain. When I visited her she was smiling but she was in pain. She died on the Sunday of divine mercy. She died with dignity.”
NTV staff lay a wreath on the coffin of their former workmate.
Dr Jane Fualal Odubu, a senior consultant surgeon at Mulago hospital, said she started managing Nankabirwa’s condition when it was advanced, at level four. Dr Odubu gave a lengthy narration of how she was alerted by Life Link Hospital about Ms Nankabirwa’s sickness in January.
“I knew Rosemary, but when I saw her brought for examination she was not the girl I knew. She was overweight, in pain and could not even lie on the examination couch,” Dr Odubu noted.
She told the congregation that the tissue removed from Ms Nankabirwa was taken to Makerere University and other laboratories in the US and South Africa. The results came back showing that Nankabirwa had adrenocortical carcinoma cancer, a cancer of the adrenal gland which had reached the stage four. As silence engulfed everybody in church, Dr Odubu said: “I took two days without telling the mother.”
The medic narrated that after an operation that removed an enlarged adrenal tissue, it was discovered that the cancer had spread to the lungs and the liver and was pushing other body organs away. “I called Dr Walusansa of Mulago Cancer Institute and asked that she be transferred there. Dr Walusansa said they could only do palliative care. I told her we have to do something, or at least be seen to do something,” Dr Odubu recalled.
She adds: “I was called to go and see my patient later…I found her, she tried to smile, but the smile could not come, she tried, she tried, it failed..........The liver was shutting down. She requested that we keep a low profile.”
Dr Odubu said doctors at Mulago hospital did their best to diagnose a disease that had remained a mystery for doctors in the UK who Nankabirwa told her had taken long treating her back pain.
Nankabirwa’s mother, Ms Rebacca Kibirige, was inconsolable and took a moment before she could utter a word. She thanked her husband Mr Aloysius Brian Kabunga who she said has stood by her side as they took care of Nankabirwa.
“We have been moving on the journey of treating Rosemary with the father. She needed love from both of us to be able to fight the hiden enemy cancer. I thank you all for the support because all religions prayed for us,” Ms Kibirige said.
“I think cancer means pain.
“I was called to go and see my patient later. I found her, she tried to smile, but the smile could not come, she tried, she tried, it failed..........The liver was shutting down. She requested that we keep a low profile,” Dr Jane Fualal Odubu, senior consultant surgeon at Mulago hospital
It gives someone depression and you have to deal with it. We did our best and God has passed the final verdict. I thank the Lord for giving me a chance to look after my daughter,” she added.
On behalf of her former employers, the NTV human resource manager, Mr Solomon Muhirwe, said Saturday’s fundraising drive for Nankabirwa’s treatment fetched Shs110million. Out of which Shs50million has been deposited on a bank account as part of a cancer fund. The remaining Shs60m covered all costs at the Aga Khan Hospital, Lee Funeral Home and to cover the burial arrangements.
The body will be laid to rest today at her ancestral home in Kanoni, Masaka
Representing government, the government Chief Whip, Ms Ruth Nankabirwa, said people called her thinking she was the one who had died.
“Rosemary was a flower… It was God’s plan that all this happened,” She said urging people to go for checks even when they feel healthy.
She added that government is setting up a centre of excellence to treat cancer in the region. Ms Nankabirwa contributed Shs2 million to the deceased’s parents.
