I have just watched 'The tumour that ate my face'I was moved by the courage of Pastina, and the care and expertise of the surgeons involved. The program was very well portrayed. However at the end it stated that Pastina had died three months later. I feel so sad, no explanation was given. Could you please let us all know, our hearts went out too such a brave young lady. Much appreciated.

I also found the ending abrupt and incomplete.
I've scoured the web trying to find out exactly what caused her death, was it the follow up operation? was it infection or complications??

Any news please let me know.

Hello,
I've just watched the 'The tumour that ate my face' and my feeling almost mirror your own, I too have tried to find more infomation, can not believe it ended that way and I feel cheated and desperate for more info and would apreciate any info you have or point me in the right dirrection. Many thanks in anticipation.

quote:

Originally posted by the godess:
I have just watched 'The tumour that ate my face'I was moved by the courage of Pastina, and the care and expertise of the surgeons involved. The program was very well portrayed. However at the end it stated that Pastina had died three months later. I feel so sad, no explanation was given. Could you please let us all know, our hearts went out too such a brave young lady. Much appreciated.

I too have just watched this very moving story, and have ended up on this website having been unable to find the reason for Pastina's death anywhere on the internet!!! What a really horrible way to end the story of such an uplifting young woman and her cousin Boniface. Has anyone out there found out what caused Pastina's tragic death??? Many thanks...

Just watched it this evening, was also shocked at the ending and felt compelled to find out what had happened. What I am doubly curious about, is finding out here that this programme has been aired last year, and, given people's understandable reaction, Discovery still seem to feel there's no problem airing it again without dealing with the aftermath. It was a life or death situation Pastina was in, and yet her death came as a footnote. It's as if the story took prescedence over the facts of her life. Bonifice too was an inspiration. Perhaps he and/or the family decided to be private out of respect... will we ever know?

Hey everyone ... I have had the same disappointment !! Was totally over whelmed by the story and totally mystified by the ending were it informed the public of her death three months later .Would be really interested in finding out what happened to her.

I was convinced that all was well with Pastina and then a note said she had died three months later.... What happened? She looked fine... I went online specifically to find out about her as her story has been haunting me. And Boniface, what a truly admirable person...

It's a sad story, here's a message from the programme maker:
"Pastina died a few months after surgery. She had a happy life working with her daughter, cultivating her plot of land and forming close relationships with her family and many of the villagers. She woke up feeling ill and died on the way to the hospital. Cause of death even after a post mortem is unconfirmed but there has been a suggestion it might have been from blood on the brain. Many women in Africa carry heavy loads on theirs heads – Pastina might have weakened her skull by doing this causing this tragedy."

I have just watched the programme about Pastina,what a courageous young woman.Everyone here is so upest that she died,I cannot believe that it ended so abruptly saying she died 3 months later but not telling us why!No follow up story was made about her cousin Boniface and how the community treated him after Pastina's death.He gave up so much to help her and make her life better, but it seems no-one has followed up his story.If anyone has new news about Pastina's death or her cousin Boniface, plz post it...

Thankyou for letting us know, I feel happy to know that she had a happy life after surgery and have some confort in the fact that she did not suffer.

I hadn't heard of this marvellous, courageous lady until I watched the programme which was aired again last night with the same abrupt ending,hence my visiting this site, would it perhaps be possible for the programme makers to revisit Pastina's home and tell the story of Boniface, he seemed so well educated in comparison with the rest of his family and obviously he is very brave, hopefully he will see that Pastina's daughter is well looked after.

I too watched this programme last night and thank NessEn for your post dated 08.03.07.

I think they should return for a follow up story - but it could be too painful for her cousin and rest of her family.

In the sea of tacky programming of a similar nature on Channel 4 and Channel Five - I thought this was very good.

I'm so upset after watching the segment about Pastina, and finding out at the end that she passed away. I have a hard time believing that they did not find what caused her death, and that the possible bleeding in her brain was caused by something Pastina did. This was a very difficult surgery, and complications do occur, even several weeks later, no matter what the patient has done. I would really like to contribute to her cousin and daughter's welfare, so if anyone has any information, please let me know. Thank you.

Aparantly i read "that a "program maker" person said that she was doing well with her daughter and her community, and she woke up feeling ill one day and died on the way to the hospital, and even a post mortem didn't find the actual cause of death. they think maybe blood on the brain. maybe she carried something on her head and it put too much pressure on her skull ..." i dont think it should be a sad story in that there are several lessons to be learned. God knows best be grateful for what you have and dont have too. her family who had 'normal' faces treated her like dirt, yet Pastina with her tumor sniled and was exceptionally brave for the duration of her life. The sun sets here and rises on the other side... God bless Pastina...

I too was left feeling shocked and bereft by the ending of the programme, and went online straight away to connect and make sense of Pastina Nkotki's passing.

I'm so surprised that even now, nearly 2 1/2 years after her documentary was made, so little information is available about the outcome of Pastina's awe-inspiring story!

I found this posting in another part of the forum:

Hello All, I was the Kenyan Production co-coordinator for Discovery when they filmed Pastina's story. The hospital never gave us detailed information about her death, they said maybe it was due to hard work (as someone mentioned earlier).

Boniface worked in our company for a while, now he is back to his village.

Let me know if you are still interested in keeping in touch with him and I'll let him know.

mercy@gingerink.tv
---

The original link to the posting is <Click here>.

I hope this helps. I leave my sincerest prayers of respect to the memory of Pastina Ntoki, her noble cousin Boniface, their villages and to the greater global community of people who have been able to get help for their own facial tumours as a result of her pioneering spirit.

The world is a much better place for having known Pastina Nkotki, if only briefly.