M'Kaya Mnjama (pronounced Em-in-jah-mah) is a friend of mommy's. She was a patient that mommy took care of for a long time. (She just recently got out of the hospital and returned to New York City, where she's from.)
M'Kaya is African-American--that is, she was BORN in America, but her parents were both born in Africa, in Kenya. She is 44 years old, and she worked at the World Trade Center. In fact, she was THERE when the Twin Towers were attacked by those Muslim extremists (I refer to them as hate-filled savages, but I have ANOTHER name for them). She wasn't in the buildings when the planes hit, but she definitely heard the explosion and then saw the thick, black smoke billowing from the towers. She immediately grabbed her disabled co-worker, Wendie, and then took off running as fast as her heavy legs could carry her--and, for a heavy woman, she was as fast as any cheetah on the African savanna!
Unbeknownst to her, pieces of debris from the towers had hit her in the leg. She had cuts on her legs, but wasn't aware of it at that time; she was only concerned in getting on out of there, and especially getting her disabled friend out of harm's way. Well, that evening, she started feeling sick, and, as time went on, she ended up feeling sicker and sicker. Around midnight (after arriving at her mother's house in Nashville earlier in the day; she'd ridden the train--the last one to leave before all transportation systems had been shut down, thanks to the terrorist attacks--), she felt so bad she ended up going to the emergency room. She was admitted, and was then rushed to surgery: it turned out that she had a lethal bacterial infection in her leg and the infection had spread. She had what is called "necrotizing fasciitis" (commonly called "flesh-eating disease").
It ended up that she ended up having her leg amputated. There was just too much damage from the necrotizing bug.
It also ended up that M'Kaya lost 11 of her 12 co-workers. Her boss, Wendie, and M'Kaya were the only ones who managed to survive the attack. And two--Rick (M'Kaya's boss) and M'Kaya, herself--had been injured in the attack, one severely (Rick; he had burns over 60% of his body). She lost more than her leg that awful, terrible day: she lost friends, co-workers, AND her job. Her life had changed forever in an instant.
It also turned out that M'Kaya Mnjama spent months in the hospital, first recovering from her sickness and then lifesaving surgery, and then undergoing many pain-filled months of physical therapy and learning to walk all over again on crutches. She then returned home, "home" being with her mother, Mudiwa. Mudiwa was thrilled that her daughter was finally well enough to return home, but she knew her daughter had undergone a major trauma in her life, and because of it, she would be emotionally and physically scarred--probably for life. She tried her utmost best to provide emotional support for her daughter, but M'Kaya was understandably angry and bitter. It wasn't easy being around M'Kaya a lot of the time.
Then M'Kaya made the most painful decision of her life--and that was to return to her beloved New York City. She just didn't feel "at home" in Tennessee--"Tennessee is just TOO QUIET!" M'Kaya was always seeming to say.
