KCSE 2025: Cancer Survivor, 17, Scores A Despite Health Challenges

Vincent Gakuhi’s happiness after doing well in KCPE was overshadowed by a rare cancer that started as a simple toothache
His mother recounted the painful journey that necessitated his transfer to India before joining high school
Gakuhi, who apologized for the killing just two days before the KCSE exams, is now seeking help to study in Australia

Nairobi: A 17-year-old boy from Ruai has warmed hearts after scoring an A in the 2025 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) despite battling a rare cancer for five years and undergoing multiple surgeries.

Vincent Gakuhi remembers the pain of 5 years after being diagnosed with a rare cancer. Photo: NTV Kenya.
Source: Facebook

Vincent Gakuhi’s story started in 2020 with what looked like a toothache in his teeth.

His mother, Lucy Ngugi, a nurse, initially got it with painkillers until she did the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education in 2020, thinking it was a clear case.

However, the pain continued, and Gakuhi had to undergo medical tests.

What cancer did Vincent Gakuhi suffer from?

Although he passed with 391 marks and gained admission to Njiiri School, the family’s happiness was overshadowed by a bad diagnosis: a rare muscle sarcoma.

“The day the school selection results came out was the same day we were diagnosed with right muscle sarcoma, which was growing for the first time,” Ngugi recalled.

This opened a new chapter for Gakuhi. His entry into high school was delayed for a year while he received treatment.

Ngugi narrated how he fainted as the pain overwhelmed his smart son.

“He was very weak. We used to carry him to the bed and to the toilet. He couldn’t move,” he said.

Gakuhi was later flown to India, where doctors successfully removed the cancer cells.

Although he returned home cancer-free and joined Alliance Boys High School in 2022 before transferring to Alliance Boys High School, hospital visits remained a part of his life throughout the four years.

Did Vincent Gakuhi ask to be released to die?

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Just two days before the start of the exams on October 21, Gacuhi almost lost hope. Overcome with pain, he prayed for ‘mercy to kill.’

“What was the point of going to the exams if I was in pain and I would fail? They were pressuring me to do the exams, and then we would know the way forward. Even when I did the exams, it was not for me, it was for them,” he said, recounting how the 2025 KCSE was the last sacrifice he gave to those who refused to let him go.

When the results were announced on Friday, January 9, with Gakuhi getting straight A’s, Ngugi recalled shouting, saying that ‘the hospital where he works stopped and even the patients recovered.’