Harun Ngarariga walks again after 20 years of spinal agony

Citizen TV now revisits his journey, and what we found was remarkable: a man transformed, his life renewed by hope, healing and a chance to reclaim a future that once seemed out of reach.

Harun Ngarariga walks into church with a spring in his step, clutching a well-worn Bible. Beside him is his wife, sharing in a moment they once feared might never come. For years, this simple act of walking through a door was impossible for him.

"Ninaweza kaa chini, naweza fanya kazi sasa. Nimeona Mungu amenionekania," says Harun.

Today, he sits without pain. He sweeps his own house and trims the hedge outside his home, everyday tasks that were once beyond his reach.

"Ninaweza kaa chini, ninaweza jichukulia bucket ikiwa chini, ninaweza jifulia nguo na kazi kidogo kidogo naweza," he says.

We first met Harun last December, when every step was a painful struggle. A devastating accident more than two decades earlier had left him incapacitated, unable to perform even the simplest daily tasks without agony. Walking, sitting and sleeping had all become relentless ordeals as he lived with the effects of a severe spinal injury.

But his story touched hearts far beyond his village. It reached a well-wisher who stepped forward to fund the life-changing surgery needed to repair his damaged L1 vertebra.

"Nashukuru Dr SK Macharia kunikubalia kutumia Royal Media platform yake," he says.

With his health restored, Harun has returned to work, selling water filters and fabrics to support his family.

"Nafanyanga kazi ya kuuza kichungi na vitambaa," he says.

But the surgery did not just heal his back. It healed his home. The chronic pain had strained his marriage for years, driving his wife away. She has since returned.

"Sasa hatuna shida. Hata kutoka na kurudi ni mashida tu. Mashida ndio zinatuma watu kutengana," says his wife, Ruth Wairimu.

At his home church, the congregation came together in a heartfelt thanksgiving service, offering prayers for a man they had watched endure years of pain and hardship.

"Alikuwa anataabika sana. Wakati mwili wako ni mgonjwa, huwezi sikiza neno la Mungu vizuri," says Pastor Samuel Njuguna.