It had all the makings of a love story scripted in heaven. Two long-distance runners who became best friends were soon to be lifelong marriage partners.
Elijah Thiga had for several months been multitasking, training hard for his long-distance races in Kenya while planning a dowry ceremony that would to pave the way for his marriage to Japan-based middle-distance runner Cynthia Njeri Mbaire.
The couple had hoped the pomp that would mark the dowry ceremony would bring Njoro town to a standstill.
Last week, Njoro town did stand still on account of the couple, but the ceremony was nowhere near happy.
Cynthia was buried after succumbing to brain cancer on April 14, 2023 while receiving treatment in Japan.
“I had lined up my athletics friends to escort me to Njoro (for the dowry ceremony) but now they are escorting me to bury my sweetheart,” a heartbroken Elijah said.
Elijah, 30, said they were to start with a traditional wedding ceremony and later solemnise it with a big church wedding.
Had everything gone according to plan, Cynthia would have returned to Kenya last June for the traditional ceremony in December and the dream wedding would have taken place in February this year.
While Elijah had on several occasions promised Cynthia that only death would do them part, he never imagined it would come so soon into their six-year relationship.
Njoro lost one of its rising stars who had for years brought the town a lot of pride. Elijah lost his better half and a good chunk of himself.
In their last video call on April 13, 2023, Cynthia said she missed her fiancé’s embrace and presence.
“I was looking forward to saying, ‘till death do us part’. I did not imagine I’d echo the words ‘till we meet again’ before our church wedding, before our friends and relatives. I’m shattered. Imagine I’m coming to Cynthia’s home to bury her and not to start the traditional dowry process (ruracio). Life is short….” said Elijah during her funeral last weekend in Bagaria, Njoro sub-county, Nakuru County.
The more than 11,000 kilometres separating Elijah and Cynthia did not count for anything, they were close as any couple could possibly be. They spoke nearly every day. They had their little coded jokes. They were in love.
“We bonded through frequent long-distance phone calls via WhatsApp where both of us expressed our heart feelings. Our relationship was short-lived. We were committed to each other. We understood each other. I was hoping to marry my best friend. 21 years is a young age to be facing a life-threatening disease. It hurt me. The death of Cynthia has left a void in my life. I don’t even think there are enough words to describe her. She was beautiful inside and out. She was a happy girl.”
She was a solid athlete, a hard worker and a warm person with an infectious smile.
Cynthia’s mother, Hellen Wanjiru Mbaire, is inconsolable. The girl who has brought her joy over the years is no more.
“I’m so heartbroken. I have lost my strength, happiness, inspiration, hope and a loving daughter. Cynthia made our family proud to travel across the world. Thank you, my daughter. She was obedient and a girl of good character. Forever I shall miss my daughter,” said the distraught mother.
Hitachi, Cynthia’s employer, sent a representative to share in her family’s grief and sing praises of her conquests in Japan.
“She was a gifted athlete and warm friend. Cynthia was a beautiful Kenyan girl and had a ready-made smile that made you want to smile back at her,” Hitachi Long Distance Team Head Coach Satoru Kitamura, who travelled from Japan to attend the funeral, said in memory of the athlete.
“She was a Kenyan girl that had a special love for her country. I remember sitting with Cynthia and listening to her stories of growing up in a humble beginning and her passionate love for athletics and her many wins in school games in Kenya,” the coach added.
On April 13, just hours before her death, Cynthia recorded a video she intended for family and close friends to take comfort in.
Jovial and smiling
In her typical nature of facing challenges head-on, Cynthia put on a brave face. Jovial and smiling all through the video, Cynthia bid her inner circle goodbye. She recalled the good times in Japan but regretted that it had sadly come to end as she felt she would not make it. And she was sorry, too, that she would not reunite with family in Kenya. She died hours later.
According to her colleagues and coach in Japan, Cynthia wanted that video to be shown to her relatives.
The two met while training in Nyahururu and had been together for over six years.
Elijah’s loneliness weighs heavily on his heart. He opened up on his marriage plans, which were cut short by death.
“I last saw Cynthia in March 2022 when I escorted her to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport after visiting Kenya. Cynthia and I talked about everything. About a week before she left for heaven, I was talking to her. I used to video-call her. I assured her it was okay and that I would be fine until she died on April 14,” Elijah said.
“I was in South Korea for a race that I dropped out of as I was stressed by her worsening health condition. She called me and informed me that her condition had worsened and she was back in hospital,” he added.
Cynthia started complaining of severe headache in 2022. While training and racing, she started losing speed at an alarming rate.
Worried about his fiancée, Elijah informed his church and asked that members pray for Cynthia. PCEA reverend Michael Kimani led other members of the church in seeking divine intervention for Cynthia.
When she sought treatment in Japan, doctors diagnosed the young athlete with brain cancer, which was already in its advanced stages.
Despite the best efforts of doctors who attended to Cynthia, friends and family who prayed for her and Elijah’s constant hope for a better outcome, fate played its hand.
In 2018, Cynthia had received a scholarship and gone to Japan for high school studies. She was enrolled at Kamimura Gakuen School in Kagoshima.
Cynthia was discovered in Nyahururu, where her elder sister, Josephine Wambui, took her after discovering that the young girl had a special gift on the track.
Josephine eulogised her sister as a fast-rising star whose warm smile will be sorely missed.
At the tender age of 16, she set a meeting record in the 2019 South Kyushu High School championships in a 3,000m race with a time of eight minutes and 49.72 seconds.
She also won the 1500m and 3,000m at the National High Schools championship.
She was a rising star who left an indelible mark on Japan’s sports scene despite her tender age. The future was incredibly bright, going by the records she kept setting.
After graduating from high school in 2022, technology firm Hitachi wasted no time in snapping Cynthia up.
In the 2022 East Japan Corporate Championships, an inter-company competition, Cynthia excelled on behalf of Hitachi.
World champion
Stephen Mayaka, a veteran athletics manager based in Machida, Tokyo said: “She was a hardworking athlete who was passionate about her work and was always available for everyone. The Kenyan athletics fraternity has lost a world champion in the making.”
“Cynthia was heading to world glory and she had assured me that she would work hard and qualify to represent Kenya in the Paris Olympics next year. It’s sad her career has been cut short,” said Mayaka.
Her formative years coach Solomon Wachira and Francis Kamau, who is also Athletics Kenya (AK) Nyandarua county chairperson, described her as “incredible talent” and “a beautiful runner on the track”.
For Elijah, as time slowly starts to heal his heart, he is only left with memories and lessons that their short-lived love came with.
“Cynthia’s death has taught me so many life lessons. While still breathing, do what you desire, and take good care of the people you love, be they your parents, your siblings, girlfriends, or boyfriends like you could lose them tomorrow. Live each day with appreciation. You might never get that chance again,” Elijah said. BY DAILY NATION