Ketia Moponda had only been at De Montfort University for eight days, starting her marketing and advertising degree, when she came down with what seemed like a simple cough in September last year.
Throughout the following day, she kept in touch with her best friend and her cousin, telling her cousin over the phone that she felt as if she was ‘going to die’.
There, they found her unconscious. An ambulance rushed her to Leicester’s Royal Infirmary where she was immediately admitted for emergency treatment.
“I have no memory of any of this but I’m lucky to be alive,” she recalled, speaking nearly a year after the ordeal that changed her life.
The infection triggered bacterial meningitis, which then progressed to sepsis, putting her body into critical condition.
“When I got to hospital my blood oxygen level was at one per cent. The blood wasn’t circulating around my body and my skin was colourless. My feet were green and swollen,” the student explained as she remembered her terrifying experience.
During this time, she was placed in a medically induced coma as doctors fought to save her life.
When she eventually woke up two days later, she was unable to see or even speak for an entire week, adding to the trauma of the illness.
By January of this year, doctors had no choice but to amputate her fingers, thumbs, and both legs below the knees in order to save her life.
“It was terrible. I just kept crying all the time. I felt so hurt, it was killing my spirit,” she said, opening up about the emotional pain she endured.
In May, she received her first set of prosthetic legs, although she is still waiting for prosthetic fingers. Despite all she has been through, Moponda has shown incredible strength, managing to walk without assistance.
She is determined to keep pushing forward and has even set her sights on returning to the gym and running again once she has healed further.
“At first I thought I’d give up on modelling but I won’t. You don’t have to hide who you are. This doesn’t make me less of a person.”
“I am unapologetically me and I want to help others to feel confident about who they are and how they look.”
